Things Fall Apart
by Rachael Greene
Summary: STORY COMPLETED! Set in the beginning of season three immediately after Trey has been shot. How does Marissa deal with it? Do Ryan and Marissa stay together? How does Kirsten fair in rehab?
1. One Shot

Ryan got up and limped over to where Marissa was sitting with the gun pushed out of her hands. It had not gone through his brain yet that Marissa had shot his brother, Trey. Nor had Marissa processed that she had shot him. They stood by the doorway of his brother's apartment for a second just breathless. It was then that Seth and Summer rushed in the apartment. Neither of them saw what happened between Trey, Ryan, and Marissa. All they saw was Trey lying listless on the carpet with Ryan and Marissa in the corner. Everyone was silent, in a state of shock, for they all feared the worst - that Trey was dead.

"What happened here?" Summer asked. Although she was afraid to ask, afraid to know - she needed to know.

Marissa just shook her head and began to cry. It was then that she began to understand her actions, just and Summer and Seth were. She buried her face in her hands and cried. Seth and Summer looked to Ryan for conformation of what they thought to be true. He was grief stricken. Although he had come to his brother's apartment with the intention of ending this dispute for once and for all, he never thought it would end like this. Not in a million years.

Ryan looked at Seth and Summer and said, "Marissa - Marissa shot Trey."

The room was quiet once again, as Seth and Summer took in the information at hand. Marissa was still crying in the corner, and Ryan was still looking off into space. Seth took out his cell phone and began to slowly dial 9-1-1. He listened for someone to pick up.

"Newport Police Department, how can we help you?" the lady asked.

"Hello, there is an emergency at 19 Newport Ave. Apartment number 2," Seth answered.

"Is this a fire, police, or medical emergency?" the receptionist asked.

No, this isn't a fire emergency. Someone's been shot," Seth told the authorities. He then pressed the red button on his cell phone, and called his father.

"Dad, it's me," Seth said to his father, Sandy Cohen.

"Hey, what's up?" Sandy replied.

"Dad, Trey was shot. I think -," he paused for a second, and took a breath. "I think he might be dead."


	2. Realization

Lights flashing, sounds blaring, everything was alive at the apartment of Trey Atwood - except for Trey himself. Ryan's worst fear was confirmed by the EMT's - Trey was dead. He would never get to talk to his brother again, apologize to his brother again, or hate him again. He was dead, and that was all there was to it. His girlfriend, someone he loved, someone he trusted, someone he would do anything for had shot his brother.

Although Ryan had gone to Trey's apartment with the intention of "ending" things once and for all, in retrospect, he wished that he had never said that or done anything. He knew what his brother had done to Marissa was wrong, but he still did not understand that his brother was dead.

At that moment, Sandy walked. He rushed to get there from dropping Kirsten off at Suriak, the alcohol rehabilitation center, at which she had been admitted to. "What the hell is going on here," Sandy said.

"Sir, would you please step away from the crime scene?" the police officer asked.

"I'm responsible for those children, sir. My name is Sandy Cohen," he greeted the officer. He shook the officer's hand, and motioned to go inside the apartment.

Seth walked outside at that moment with a police officer. He was not in hand cuffs, but they were going toward the cruiser. "Dad!" Seth shouted.

"Seth, what is going on?" Sandy repeated.

"Dad, Trey's dead. Marissa shot him. Summer and I came in after it happened," Seth answered.

Sandy stepped inside the apartment to find Ryan sitting on the floor with an EMT examining him, and a police officer talking to him. He had cuts on his face, and his nose had been broken. He sat there almost lifeless not knowing what to do. Sandy walked over to him.

"Hey, Ryan, you okay?" Sandy asked.

Ryan nodded his head. "I never meant for this to happen," Ryan said. "All I wanted was for things to be settled between me and Trey."

"What did happen?" Sandy asked. Although Seth had told him that Marissa was the one to shoot Trey, he still did not know the motives behind her actions, and what Ryan had to do with it.

Ryan looked at Sandy for what seemed to be forever, and then he turned his head to face Marissa who was sitting on the couch talking with a police officer. Her hands were in handcuffs and she was crying. Marissa looked back at him for just a second, and although she did not speak, Ryan could tell that she was saying, "I'm sorry."

Sandy went over to where Marissa was sitting on the couch. He sat down next to her, and put his arm around her back to console her, for she had been crying for sometime now. He offered her a handkerchief, but she turned it down. The police officer was becoming suspicious.

"Who are you?" the police officer asked Sandy.

"Sandy Cohen, Attorney at Law. I'm Marissa Cooper's attorney. She isn't allowed to answer anymore questions until I have been able to talk with her, okay?" Sandy told the officer.

"Fine, but you both have to come down to the station," the officer said.

"I think we can manage that," Sandy replied. He got up and put his hand out to help Marissa up off of the couch. "Can we follow you in my car?" Sandy asked.

"Sorry, liability," the officer answered. "She has to come with us."

"Then I will follow you all to the station," Sandy agreed. He headed out the door. When he was outside, he stopped and told Seth to take Ryan home, when they were ready to release him. Then Sandy got into his black BMW and followed Marissa to the police station.


	3. Interrogation

At the police station Sandy went in the front door and went to the receptionist desk that was out front. She was a small person, who appeared to be young. He told the receptionist who he was, and asked where Marissa Cooper was. The receptionist told Sandy that she was in interrogation room number two, which was down the hall to his left. He thanked her, and walked down.

Inside the room he saw Marissa crying. She was sitting at the table crying. Sandy went and sat down with her, once again. He gave her a box of tissues.

"Marissa, what happened?" Sandy inquired.

She sniffled some more, and grabbed another tissue. "Se - Seth ca - called me and told me that - that Ryan was on his way to - to Trey's and was going to 'end things' for 'once and for all'," Marissa cried.

Sandy looked at her and said, "No, I mean from the beginning. What prompted this? How did you get involved in a dispute between Ryan and Trey?"

She looked at him. Mascara was running down her face. She looked frightened at that moment. Marissa took a deep breath, took a drink of water, and wiped her face.

"When you, Seth, and Ryan were in Miami, I helped Trey to find a job. And he got one working at the Bait Shop. He said that we should celebrate, and I agreed. That night I went over to his apartment, I brought a couple of movies... Well, we got pretty wasted, and I told him that I didn't feel so hot, and that I was going to take a step outside, for a second. A minute or so later, Trey came out, and we walked down the beach. At that point, he seemed... different, I don't know. Maybe he was high, I don't know. But he started to thank me for getting him the job, and I told him that it was no big deal. Then he began to make accusations that I was into him, and not Ryan. That was when he began to... he began to force himself on me," Marissa explained. She sniffled, and reached for a box of tissues.

"Did he rape you?" Sandy asked. His heart felt heavy. All he wanted to do was reach out and hug this girl.

"No, I fought him off. That is why he had the cut on his forehead. I lost my purse, though, I mean, not like it's that important anyways," she replied.

"What happened to you?" he inquired.

Marissa showed Sandy the bruise that was on her chest. Although it had faded significantly, it was still apparent how large and severe the bruise was. Then she showed him the cut on her forehead, which had happened the night of the funeral when Trey and Jess were doing their "business" at the Bait Shop.

"Is that how there was a gun at Trey's?" Sandy asked. Marissa nodded.

"Jess, the girl who was found unconscious in my pool, and Trey had the gun that night, and they shot it off, and broke a bunch of glass, and it cut my head. I guess it was Trey's or something because it was there in the apartment tonight," Marissa said.

"Did Ryan know about what happened between you and Trey before tonight?" asked Sandy.

"No, I don't know how he found out, unless Summer told Seth, and he told Ryan. That must have been how Ryan found out," she thought out loud.

"What happened tonight?" Sandy questioned Marissa.

Marissa took a deep breath, and said, "I went down to have dinner with my parents, and I got this call from Seth. I asked if I could call him back, and he said no, that it was urgent. I asked what it was, and he said 'Ryan knows.'"

"And?" Sandy asked.

"He said that Summer and him were on their way to Trey's to stop him, but that I was closer, so I got in my car, and went to Trey's as fast as I could. But when I got there, Ryan and Trey were on the floor, and Trey was choking Ryan. I tried to stop him, but he just slapped me aside. He grabbed the telephone out of the wall, and was about to smash it into Ryan's head, and that's when I grabbed the gun," Marissa quivered.

"That's when you shot him, wasn't it?" Sandy said softly.

"Yes, Seth and Summer walked in right after," Marissa replied. "What's going to happen to me?"

"I don't know. Seeing as how you were defending Ryan, and you are a minor, everything should turn out all right in the end; however, seeing as how there were no witnesses... that could be a problem," Sandy stated. "Do your parents know anything about this? Or that you are here?"

"No," Marissa answered. "They don't know anything."

"I think it best you call them, and tell them what is going on, or do you want me to do it?" Sandy offered.

Marissa asked if Sandy could do it. She knew that she did not have the courage to do it herself. As much as she hated her mother, this is the one time she wanted her most. Sandy agreed to be the one to tell them, and he went out of the interrogation room to call Julie and Jimmy Cooper. He began to dial. Jimmy answered the phone.

"Jimmy?" Sandy said.

"Yeah, what's up? Hey, do you know where Marissa went?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, about that, can you and Julie come down to the police station? It's pretty important," Sandy replied.


	4. Marissa

Marissa watched from inside the interrogation room as her parents came running down the hall. Her mother was ahead of her father. Julie had daggers in her eyes. She did not know what her daughter did this time, but she had had enough of it. Rage engulfed her, or it always seemed to. Jimmy, on the other hand, appeared to be more cool and collected. Before the pair reached the room, Jimmy grabbed a hold of Julie's arm, and took her aside to talk to her.

"Don't go in there, and accuse Marissa of doing something. We don't even know what happened," Jimmy told Julie.

"Your daughter has just committed a major crime, Jimmy. She is sitting in the interrogation room at the police station!" Julie shouted.

At that moment, Sandy peered his head out from around the corner. He had heard most of what the Coopers were talking about while he was getting his coffee to stay awake. He walked over to them, and took a sip of his coffee while doing so.

"Hey, I'm really glad that you guys came so quickly," Sandy said.

"Yeah, well, it's not like we had a choice. Just when things were getting better, she had to go do something like this... What did she do?" Julie sighed.

"Julie! Stop!" Jimmy yelled. Julie looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"Oh it's bigger than her. You'd better sit down," Sandy suggested to the pair. Sandy sat them down on the couch that was around the corner from the interrogation room that Marissa was in. He told them everything. Everything that Marissa told him, Sandy told her parents. He could see the looks on Jimmy and Julie's faces change with each detail he gave them, from Trey attacking her, the Bait Shop, to Ryan finding out, to Marissa shooting Trey. The hallway was quiet. No one was talking.

"What's going to happen? Will Marissa have to go to jail?" Julie asked.

"Although she wasn't defending herself, she was defending Ryan. I don't know for sure what is going to happen. Best case scenario - nothing. Worst case scenario - juvenile detention. I told the police I was her attorney, of course, if that's okay with you," He asked the Coopers.

"Of course," Jimmy and Julie replied in unison. They got up from the couch and slowly walked into the interrogation room. Marissa had not seen their faces since Sandy took them around the corner to talk with them. When she saw the expressions on their faces this time, it was sadness, and not anger. They approached her room, and came in. Her father came over and hugged her, while her mother sat across from her at the table.

"It 'ill be okay, kiddo," Jimmy told Marissa. Marissa started to cry in her father's arms. At that moment, she could not think about what would happen to her, but what Ryan thought of her.


	5. Ryan

It was seven o' clock in the morning when Sandy Cohen finally walked in the front door to his house. He was overwhelmed with thoughts. Thoughts about everything that had happened in the past two weeks - Kirsten, Caleb, and now Trey. Never before had he experienced this amount of anxiety in such a short time.

Sandy put his keys down on the table by the door, and walked into the kitchen where Seth was pouring himself a bowl of cereal. He took the bowl, sat down at the island, and sighed. He looked at his father with an empty expression on his face. There were no words to be said, for no one knew what to say.

Finally, Sandy broke the silence. "Did you bring Ryan home?"

"Yeah, after the emergency people checked him out, me and Summer brought him back here," Seth replied.

"Is Summer still here?" Sandy asked. Although usually he would not accept Seth's girlfriend to be sleeping at their house, this was an unusual circumstance.

"What? No, I brought her home on the way here, like hours ago," Seth explained to his father.

"Oh," Sandy replied. "How is Ryan?"

Seth glanced out the window towards the pool house, and then looked back at his father. Although he was not capable of processing this level of emotional stress, he understood to know that Ryan needed to be alone. "When I brought him home, he went out to the pool house, and that is where he has been ever since. I offered him some breakfast, but he turned it down," Seth told Sandy.

"I'll go talk to him," Sandy answered. He walked out the door, which lead onto the patio, and to the pool house, where Ryan was situated. The blinds were all pulled down so that no one could see inside of the pool house. Sandy figured it was so that Ryan could shroud himself in darkness. He came up to the door and knocked twice. There was no answer. Slightly worried, Sandy went in. He found Ryan lying on his bed just staring at the sealing.

"If it's all right with you, I thought we might talk," Sandy said as he sat down. "I figure a lot must be goin' through your head right now 'cause I know a lot is going through my head."

Ryan looked at him and said, "I'm not really in a talking mood right now."

"I figured you'd say that, so how 'bout I talk and you listen? Fair enough?" Sandy asked. Ryan shrugged his shoulders.

You know, I'm really sorry for what happened to your brother, and Marissa for that fact -," Sandy said. Ryan's head bolted around.

"Yeah, she told me - she had to. I just hope you know that she didn't shoot him because she hated him, she shot him to save you, and whatever happens, I hope you remember that," Sandy said.

Ryan sighed. He stared at the ceiling, and said to Sandy, "I know that I went over to Trey's to end things between me and him, but I never thought things would turn out like that. I know - I know that Marissa was trying to help me, and she probably saved my life, but... She shot my brother, and now... he's dead. We didn't always get along - that's for sure, but he was my family. My flesh and blood. The only _real_ family I had left, and now... he's gone."

Sandy sighed, and patted his shoulder. He continued to sit there with Ryan in the pool house in the wicker chair. Although there were no words being said, a connection was being made, a connection that Sandy hoped would help Ryan through this.


	6. The Pain

Marissa walked out of the police station with her parents that morning in a daze. Her mother paid the twenty-five thousand dollar bail to have her released until her trial. The police had charged her with manslaughter. No one could believe what had happened in the past twenty-four hours. Especially Marissa., for that matter.

Her parents walked her to the Mercedes-Benz that they had driven in, and she sat down in the back seat. She stared lifeless out into her surroundings. Her hands were cold because she was still in shock of what had happened.

Her father turned around and said, "It 'ill be okay, kiddo, I promise."

"Do you think it will _really_ be 'okay', Dad? Was it 'okay' when you squandered other people's money? Was it 'okay' when you and Mom got divorced? Was it 'okay' when I moved in with Caleb and Mom? Was it 'okay' when you moved to Hawaii? I _murdered_ someone, Dad. Ryan's brother, and I don't know if he'll ever be able to forgive me," Marissa cried. Her father looked at her sympathetically and sighed. He knew that there was nothing that he could do to really help her. All he could do was be there for her when she needed him, like now.

When they returned to the house, Marissa went inside to her bedroom, and just laid on her bed. That was all she could think to do, for the time being. Her parents were downstairs in the kitchen making a late breakfast. Everyone was quiet, not a word was being said. While Jimmy and Julie wanted to be positive, they knew that danger was eminent too.

Finally, Julie broke the silence and said, "Do you think she will have to go away to... you know?"

Jimmy sat down on a bar stool and sighed. He looked at Julie and replied, "I'd like to hope not. I mean, according to what Marissa told Sandy, she didn't really do anything wrong. She was defending Ryan. Sandy seems to think that she will get off, but I don't think this is the end of this for her - "

"She'll need therapy, wont she Jimmy?" Julie cut in.

"Yeah, she probably will, but don't force her into yet, Jules. See how she handles it first. I mean, she has us here to help her too," Jimmy stated

"But will she let us in?" Julie asked. Jimmy looked at her for a moment. He did not know what to tell her. He knew that Marissa would be more open to him than her mother, which scared him.


	7. Space

Marissa stayed in her room for the rest of the day. All she wanted to do was hide from the world, and pretend that whatever had happened the night before never happened at all. She hugged her purple Care Bear with all her might and stared at the ceiling continuously, having not moved for the entire day.

While she was laid on her bed she thought about things. Ryan being the thing. Marissa was afraid that he would never forgive her for what she did - that he would never understand, because Trey was his brother. She had been thinking about that one topic the entire day. She glanced at her clock, which read 6:19 P.M. "Wow," she thought to herself, "I've been here awhile."

Knock... knock... knock... "Hey, kiddo, it's me. Can I come in?" Jimmy asked. Marissa did not respond to her father, so he went into her room, and sat on her bed.

"You know, sweetie, you can just say you're sorry. It might let Ryan know how you feel... look, I know that this is not the easiest thing to deal with, but there has to be a start somewhere, don't you think? Ryan is probably just as upset as you are, and is trying to find some closure, as well." Jimmy explained. He sighed, for he knew that Marissa would not respond to him. She was too upset to respond.

"Listen, kiddo, if you want some dinner, your mother and I will be downstairs eating in the kitchen, okay?" Jimmy told her. He patted her leg, and went downstairs to where he and Julie were eating dinner.

She had made some spaghetti, which they were eating in the kitchen. She sat down at her seat, and Jimmy sat down in his, and they began to eat their dinner together silently - without Marissa. No one made an attempt to talk. Both of them had just about cleared their plates when Marissa came downstairs. It looked as if she had been crying. She was holding her Care Bear in one hand, and the railing in the other.

She looked at her parents blankly and said, "Take me to Ryan."


	8. I'm sorry

Sandy made hamburgers on the grill for Seth, Ryan, and himself to eat. It was odd to cook for three since Kirsten was gone. Although she had only been gone about twenty-four hours, he missed her dearly, and wished that he could tell her everything which had happened since she left. Sandy did not know until then how much he really did love his wife, and he hoped she loved him just as much.

Sandy brought the well-cooked hamburgers inside the house and placed them on the kitchen table. Seth had set the plates out - a job that his mother was accustomed to doing. He set the last one down for Ryan, and sat down in his seat next to his father. They each took a hamburger, and took a bite when the doorbell rang. Sandy went to answer it. He opened the door and found Jimmy Cooper with his daughter, Marissa standing there. Julie was getting out of the car.

Sandy stared at them for a moment wondering what they were doing at the house. He noticed that it looked like Marissa had been crying. "Do you guys want some dinner?" Sandy asked, trying to be polite. He wanted to know why they were at the house, but he did not want to ask.

"No, thanks." Jimmy said. "Marissa wants to say something to Ryan, I think."

"I'll go get Ryan," Sandy offered.

She shook her head yes, and went inside. She sat down on the couch that was in the family room, which had been remodeled the previous summer. Tears continued to flow down her eyes, for Marissa was afraid that Ryan would never truly know how sorry she was.

While Marissa sat on the couch, Sandy went outside to the pool house to get Ryan. He was slightly afraid of what might happen between Ryan and Marissa. He knew that both of them were heated because of what happened the other night, naturally. When Sandy got to the pool house, he knocked on the door, and said who it was. Ryan said he could come in. Inside, Sandy was shrouded with darkness all around.

"There's someone here to see you. They want to express their sympathies about your brother," Sandy told him. He was afraid that if he told Ryan that it was Marissa, he might not go.

"I'll be in, in a minute," Ryan answered. He got up off the bed, and began to put a shirt on over his wife-beater.

"All right," Sandy replied. He turned around and went back inside the house to where Marissa, Jimmy, Julie, and Seth were standing, and told them what Ryan said. The group waited for about five minutes for Ryan to come in, while waiting, most of them went into the kitchen. Then Ryan came into the family room, where Marissa was.

He stood there wide-eyed, just as she did, not knowing what to say. They stood across the room from each other, hesitant to get any closer. Their eyes locked. Finally, Ryan broke the silence.

"So you're the one here to say 'you're sorry', huh?" Ryan said.

She shook her head yes. She did not have the strength to get out the words because most of it was trying to hold back the tears. "I - I ju - just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for what - what happened. I didn't mean to hu - hurt you. I didn't mean to... to kill him," Marissa cried.

Ryan looked at her for a moment. Then he said, "I know your sorry, Marissa, but you killed my brother... I know that I said I was going to 'end things once and for all', but I didn't think that... he would turn out dead."

Marissa started to cry in her hands. She knew that Ryan would not accept her apology in her heart of hearts.

"Marissa, I'm not mad at you. I understand why you did what you did. I mean, if you hadn't shot Trey, I would have died. And I'll always be grateful to you for that, but at the same time... I just need time to deal with it... to rationalize everything. I need to be alone for a while, okay?" Ryan said, and tried to smile at her. She tried to smile back at him, but she just could not. She knew that their relationship, which they had worked so hard on all year was over.


	9. The Obituary

It had been three days since the death of Trey Atwood, and life around Newport Beach seemed to be getting back to normal. The reporters stopped coming to talk to the Coopers and Cohens. The apartment, which Trey had lived in no longer had police crawling over it. Things seemed to be returning to normal for everyone, except for the Coopers and Cohens. Their worlds had been turned upside down by the death of Trey.

Marissa would not talk to anyone anymore, except her father once in a while. There were no tears left to cry, so she laid on her bed with her purple Care Bear all day just thinking and dealing with the death of Trey, and her role in it silently. Sometimes, she would get up and walk to the window, and look outside. This brought her peace, for when she looked out of the window, and saw a beautiful, sunny day, she knew, on some level, that eventually, everything would be all right.

Jimmy and Julie worried about her constantly. Julie felt that she needed immediate psychiatric help in order to deal with what had happened, but Jimmy felt that if they did decide to send Marissa to a shrink that she would stop talking to them all together, and rebel. He felt that when Marissa was ready to talk about the ordeal, she would, and no one should force her to. He knew that Marissa was a resilient girl who could get past anything with a little help. She just needed to be guided in the right direction.

Meanwhile, at the Cohen house, things were very solemn. Seth was trying not to be his "normal self" during this time because he knew that Ryan could not deal with him. He knew how important Marissa was to Ryan, and on some level, how important his brother was, as well. Since Seth never had the chance to grow up with siblings, he was not sure he knew how to deal with a loss of a sibling. However, what he did know was how close he had become with Ryan, which made him empathetic to Ryan's situation. He knew that if Summer had killed Ryan, he would not know what to do. Nowadays, Seth would just play video games by himself in the family room, hoping that Ryan might walk by, so that he could offer some double player action.

Ryan had not been doing much since Marissa came over that night. He stayed in the pool house most of the time with the shades drawn, so the room would be dark. Ryan slept a lot these days, and when he was awake, he would lie on his bed thinking about his brother, and reliving the events that happened three nights ago. Naturally, this did not make things easier on him, but Ryan did not want to forget. Although he and Trey had their differences, he did not want to forget his brother, however grim their last moments together were.

Sandy never thought that he would have to be Marissa's lawyer. Especially for something of this magnitude. He always thought that even though she got into some minor trouble, sometimes, she was a good kid, but now... Sandy did not know that to think. He opened the paper to read it that night because he had not had a chance to that day, yet. The first page he turned in the "Local" section of the paper was the obituary page. There - he saw Trey's obituary.

"Trey Atwood, 21 from Chino, California was killed Thursday night in an apartment in Newport Beach, California. Trey was born on March 31, 1984 in Chino, California to Dawn and John Atwood. He attended Chino schools. He is succeeded by his younger brother, Ryan Atwood, 17, and both of his parents. The wake will be held at Jones, Rich, and Hutchins Funeral Home. Visiting hours between 4 -8 PM on Monday evening. The funeral services will be held on Tuesday at Brooklawn Cemetery in Chino, California," Sandy read to himself. Then he wondered how many others saw it as well.


	10. Theresa

It was a hot day in Chino. The temperature reached well over ninety degrees that day. There was no way to be uncomfortable in the Gonzales house that day because the air-conditioner was broken. Theresa was going around opening every window in the house, in order to let some air into the house. She had not changed a bit since before she had gotten pregnant - at least her figure had not changed. She did not go out nowadays, or to school, for that matter. She stayed home to take care of her baby boy.

Her mother was reading the newspaper in the kitchen before she had to go to work. It was not particularly interesting that day, but she happened to turn to the obituaries page, and she saw Trey's obituary. Theresa's mother froze. She could not believe that he was dead, and at such a young age.

"Theresa, come here, sweetie, read this," her mother told her. Theresa came over to where her mother was sitting, looked over her shoulder, and began to read the obituary.

"Oh, my god... I can't believe it - it's Ryan's brother!" Theresa exclaimed.

Her mother got up out of her chair, placed the paper on the kitchen table, put the coffee cup in the sink, and asked, "Are you going to the funeral?"

"Of course, Mom, why wouldn't I go?" Theresa responded.

"You know why, Theresa," her mother said.

Theresa looked at her son for a moment, and then looked back at her mother. "Look, Mom, Trey lived next door to us for... almost as long as I can remember, and it's only right to go to his funeral," Theresa explained.

"But what about Ryan," her mother said. "If you go, you risk exposing yourself, and you know what would happen."

Theresa did not say anything, but she knew that she would not follow her mother's advice - she was going to the funeral.


	11. The Drive

Ryan stood by his mirror and began to get dressed into his suit. It was black with a white shirt, and a black tie. He stood in front of the mirror, and tied his tie. It had taken two years, but finally he was able to tie a tie. "This isn't supposed to happen," he thought to himself. "I'm not supposed to bury my brother."

Although he tried not to show it, the pain that his brother's death had caused him was greater than anyone thought. Even though Ryan did not get along with Trey - he was his brother - his flesh and blood. They had a history together, whatever that may have been. The Christmas, birthdays, recesses, and other endeavors they had shared together were now only distant memories.

Ryan got finished getting ready, and walked into the Cohen house where Sandy, Seth, and Summer were waiting for him so they could drive down to go to the funeral. They all walked across the kitchen and out the front door to the Range Rover solemnly. No one spoke a word. Seth and Summer climbed in the back while Sandy and Ryansat up front and drove to Chino, California.

The entire ride down was extremely quiet. Seth read his comic books. In fact, he had just purchased a new one from a new series at the comic book store the previous day. Summer read her Cosmopolitan. The main article was called "Ten New Positions to Please Your Guy." Ryan looked passively out the window and Sandy drove the sixty miles to Chino.

An hour later, the group had arrived in Chino to the cemetery where the funeral was going to be held. Until this moment, Ryan had tried to believe that it was all a dream, but now he knew he could not lie to himself anymore. Today was the day he was going to bury his brother.


	12. The Stand

Marissa sat in her room hugging her Care Bear with all her might. She had tears in her eyes. Marissa was so sorry for what she had done to Trey - done to Ryan emotionally, for that matter. She took a deep breath and wiped the tears off her face. She had to pretend to be strong - to hold herself together, or otherwise, she would have to go back to therapy. Suddenly there was a knocking on the door. Marissa jumped.

"Hey, there, Kiddo," Jimmy said. "Can I come in?"

Marissa nodded her head.

"Are you ready to go?" Jimmy asked her.

"I guess," Marissa said.

"You know, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," her father told her as he put his arm around her back.

"I know, but I have to, Dad. If I don't go then... It just isn't right," Marissa explained.

"Yeah, I know, Kiddo," Jimmy said. "Just remember that your mom and I love you no matter what, okay?"

"Well, you'll love me no matter what. I don't know about Mom," Marissa stated.

"Hey, your mom loves you, and even though she doesn't always show it the best... she does, and you need to remember that, okay?" Jimmy told Marissa.

Marissa nodded, got off her bed, and followed her father downstairs to the car where her mother was waiting in the driver's seat of her Mercedes-Benz. Marissa got in the back of the car while her father rode next to her mother in the front, and the Cooper family took off for Chino.


	13. The Funeral

It was a sunny day that Tuesday in Brooklawn Cemetery. The trees were blooming, and it was warm. White chairs were placed all around where the casket was going to be placed in the ground. People had begun to arrive for the funeral service. People that Ryan knew, and others that he did not. Seth, Sandy, Ryan, and Summer were all sitting up front in the front row.

The Coopers were the next group of people to show up. Julie parked her car around the corner and they got out, and walked over to where the cemetery was. Her father put his arm around her neck as they walked over to the grave site.

"God, I hope no one steal's my Mercedes," Julie said.

"Now's not the time, Julie," Jimmy answered.

"Well, I'm just saying, We are in Chino," Julie replied.

"Mom, the car isn't going to be stolen," Marissa said softly.

Julie sighed and continued walking until the Coopers walked over to where the Cohens were sitting. Sandy stood up and he and the Cooper's exchanged greetings, where they sat down next to the Cohens. Ryan was placed next to Marissa and her mother.

"You don't mind that I'm sitting here, do you?" Marissa asked.

"No, it's fine, I don't mind at all. Listen, I'm sorry about what I said the other day. I was still just a little upset about Trey... you know. I know that you were trying to save me, and you did, and I want to thank you for that," Ryan explained.

"Listen, we don't even have to be friends if you don't want to. We can just see each other at school and stuff after this. I'll understand," Marissa replied.

"Actually, I was thinking just the opposite. I was hoping... maybe we could be friends, and maybe... maybe more than friends? Take it one step at a time?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, that'd be cool," Marissa agreed.

Meanwhile, while Marissa and Ryan were talking, more people were coming to the funeral. More people than Ryan expected to come, anyway. One of the unexpected people being Theresa. She walked up the aisle to find a seat with her mother and brother, who had just been released from jail. They sat down two rows behind Ryan and the rest of the Cooper and Cohen clans.

Theresa was not sure she wanted to talk to Ryan because she was afraid of her secret coming out - that she did not lose the baby. She knew that the closer they became, the easier it would be for him to find out. While Theresa did not want that on one hand, on the other, she felt bad for lying to him about what happened, and knew that if she did not tell him, he would never forgive her. She instinctively followed her mother's wishes, though, that Ryan not know about the baby.

The crowd was filling nicely, and the funeral was about to begin when someone showed up. Someone Ryan never thought he would see again - his mother. She came out of this old Chevrolet Cavalier and walked up the aisle to the front row where Ryan was sitting, and sat on the other side of the aisle. She did not say a word to him, but they did get the chance to lay eyes on each other for the first time in nearly two years.

Dawn took a good look at her son, to see what had become of him. She was happily surprised at what kind of boy he was turning out to be. He seemed happy with the Cohens and that was all that mattered to her - that she knew she made the right choice for her son. She could not change his past, but by letting him stay with the Cohens she changed his future.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We are here to deliver the body of Trey Atwood to its resting place. We pray to God to deliver his soul. Let us pray now for his eternal peace. I am the resurrection and the life, 'saith the lord; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever believeth and liveth in me shall never die," said the minister.

The funeral went on for about an hour, and then Trey's body was lowered into the ground, never to be seen by the public again. Ryan stood in front on one side. His mother stood out front on the other side. They were facing each other.

"I'm so sorry," Marissa said to Ryan.

"It's okay," Ryan said.

After the body was lowered into the ground, it was announced that there would be a gathering for Trey at the hotel down the road. Sandy did not feel comfortable hosting something like this at his house, especially for a criminal, but at the same time, it was wrong to do nothing at all, so he booked a room at a hotel near the cemetery for the gathering, it was the least he could do.


	14. The Gathering

Ryan was sitting down at one of the tables in the room set up for the gathering after the funeral. He had just gotten a glass of soda and was sipping it. The people started to fill the room. He saw the Coopers come in. Julie and Jimmy went to the bar to get something to drink while Marissa came and sat down next to Ryan.

"Hey," Marissa said to Ryan.

"Hey," Ryan said back. He really did not know what to say. There was this awkward silence between them until Summer and Seth came over to the table where they were sitting.

"Dude, you wouldn't believe how creepy some of the people are," Seth stated. He was standing in front of Ryan.

Summer sat down next to Marissa and asked, "Hey, Coop. How are you?"

Marissa turned to Summer and gave her a look, and then turned the other way.

"Okay, then," Summer said.

The kids all sat down at the table. Seth was sitting next to Ryan and Summer was sitting next to Marissa. They watched people file into the room, waiting for someone they knew, in order to break the silence.

Finally, it happened. Ryan's mother walked into the room. She looked very presentable, considering what she was normally seen wearing. Dawn Atwood had a simplistic black dress on with short sleeves and some black pumps. Her hair had been dyed blonde, and she no longer permed her hair. She looked as if she had gotten some semblance of a life since she had seen Ryan the last time - nearly two years ago.

She walked over to where her son was sitting with his friends. She said, "Hello, Ryan."

"Mom," Ryan replied. Although he tried not to show it, deep down, he was happy to see her again - to know that she was all right, and for her to see what he had made of himself.

"I'm sorry about your brother, but he had it coming, didn't he?" Ryan's mother said. She tried to smile to make the best out of a bad situation.

"Do you want to sit down?" Ryan asked her. His mother sat down at the table across from the kids. No one said anything to anyone.

Finally Seth broke the silence, and said, "Hey did you know Ryan wants to be an architect?"

Dawn smiled smugly and replied, "Still have that dream?"

"Yeah, I do," Ryan answered.

"He's in like A.P. Physics, and Calculus - " Seth stated. Ryan glared at him. "Sorry, I'll shut up now."

"You've done real well for yourself," Dawn said to her son.

"Thanks, Mom," Ryan replied.

After that the table became silent again. Dawn had a cup of coffee in her hand. The kids all just had sodas. Once again, no one could think of anything to say. Dawn sat at the table and admired her son. She knew then that relinquishing Ryan to the Cohens' care was the best thing she could have ever done for him. "He will be something someday," she thought to herself.

Then Sandy Cohen came over to the table. He had been talking with the Coopers for awhile; however, while hearing Julie Cooper talk about her latest shopping trip was fun, he needed a change in conversation, so he decided to see what Ryan, Seth, Summer, and Marissa were doing. He walked over to the table, and noticed that Ryan's mother was sitting there, so he thought he might reintroduce himself.

"Dawn Atwood?" Sandy said. He shook her hand. "Sandy Cohen, remember me?"

"How could I forget?" Dawn replied nicely.

"How are you these days?" Sandy asked, trying to make conversation.

"Good. I'm good. I have a job at a restaurant a town over from Chino. I've had it for... about a year now," she answered. "How are you and your wife?"

"Well, I am running my own law practice now, and Kirsten is... well, Kirsten," Sandy told Dawn. He did not want to have to tell her that his wife was now getting help for alcohol abuse.

"Is she here today?" Ryan's mother asked.

"Uh, no. She was extremely busy today. Her father just died," Sandy said. He could see all the kids look at him, especially Seth. They all knew the truth about what was happening to Kirsten, but they all knew not to say anything - it was not appropriate.

"Well, I'm sorry to here that," Dawn said.

It was then that Ryan saw her - Theresa. It seemed as if she were glowing, and there was this ora around her. She had on a very conservative black dress with some nice high-heeled shoes. Theresa noticed Ryan too. He got up from the table he was sitting at, and went over to talk to her. Marissa watched him go. Although she knew that she could not stop him, it pained her to watch him go to her.

"Theresa, hey," Ryan said.

"Hey," Theresa replied.

"Don't you live in Atlanta?" Ryan asked. He thought it to be a little weird that Theresa would know about the funeral when she was supposed to be living in Atlanta.

"I had to move back home - my mom needed me," Theresa explained. She hoped that Ryan would not probe anymore into her personal life. "So how are things?"

"Well, Trey got out of jail, he tried to rape Marissa, but she got away, so he really just attacked her... Um... Kirsten's father died, she went to alcohol rehab - don't ask, and Marissa shot my brother when he was attacking me, so yeah - things are going well," Ryan replied sarcastically.

"I'm sorry," Theresa told Ryan.

"Nah, it's okay. Things will get better, right? I mean they always do," Ryan said.

"Yeah, you're right. Well, I'd better go. I just wanted to stop by and say 'hi'," Theresa replied.

"Take care," Ryan said.

"You too," Theresa told him as she walked out the door.

Ryan went back to the table. He felt a little better after he talked to her. He always felt better after he talked to her about something important. He sat down where he was sitting before and did not say a word.

"What was that about?" Seth asked.

"Uh, she just wanted to say 'hi', and see how things were. She figured that a lot was going on right now," Ryan said.

"That's cool, man," Seth said. He went on talking to Summer after that.

Marissa was not okay with it though. She did not like Theresa coming back into Ryan's life because she was afraid that it would lead to last year all over again, and she did not want that. Although she knew that when she shot Trey, that would change everything between Ryan and her forever, she did not want Theresa to come into Ryan's life, and change what Ryan and she still had left - their friendship.


	15. The Morning After

The next morning Ryan woke up in the pool house. He felt emotionally better that day than he had the past few days. He got up out of bed, put his slippers on, and walked into the kitchen where Seth and Sandy were eating breakfast.Seth was sitting at thekitchen table whileSandy had made pancakes for the three of them.

"Hey, Ryan, want some breakfast?" Sandy asked. He held the pan up and motioned towards Ryan.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks," Ryan replied. He sat down at the kitchen table across from where Seth was sitting.

Seth chewed his food, looked up at Ryan and asked, "So how was seeing Theresa again?"

"It was... weird - kind of, I guess," Ryan answered. Sandy walked over and gave Ryan his pancakes, and then walked back over to the stove.

"What do you mean, my man?" Seth asked.

"We haven't really spoken much since last summer - and the time I ran into her a couple of weeks ago in Chino - ," Ryan said as he was cut off by Seth.

"Whoa! You ran into Theresa? In Chino? Ryan, what were you doing in Chino?" Seth asked, bombarding Ryan with questions. Sandy looked over at them from the stove and lifted his eyebrows, but declined to say anything. Although he had nothing against Theresa, every time she came into his life, she brought a lot of trouble that Ryan did not need.

"I was looking for Trey because he ran off, and I needed to talk to him about something... about Marissa. Jess - floater girl - said that he ran off to Chino, so I went to see him," Ryan explained.

"And how did you run into Theresa, dude?" Seth probed.

"After I ran into Trey, I was outside on the sidewalk, and I saw her there," Ryan told Seth. "Actually, she saw me. She had gone grocery shopping or something, and we ran into each other."

"And that was it?" Seth wondered aloud.

"Yeah, pretty much. I walked her to her house, and we talked about Marissa and Trey, and stuff. She... uh, she made me realize that Trey was not the one to trust. Then I drove home. That's all," Ryan said.

"So are you guys like friends again?" Seth asked.

"No, man. Not really - not with all that's happened between us. We just ran into each other a couple of times - that's all," Ryan replied.

Ryan and Seth became silent after his last comment. Things were different now that Kirsten was in rehabilitation. The house had become more disorderly, and there was less take-out, due to Kirsten's absence. Sandy had not had the chance to talk to Kirsten since she left for Suriak, but he wondered how she was, and what she was doing.


	16. The Meeting

Kirsten walked into the group meeting that day with less hesitation than she had the previous five days. Although it still felt weird to talk to a group of strangers about her problems, at the same time, it felt good to release what had been bothering her. She walked into the room, and sat down in one of the chairs which had been placed a circle, to make it easier to talk.

"Hello, Kirsten," the group mediator said. Kirsten smiled back at the mediator. "So the general topic for today's discussion will be about families. Your families."

Everyone mumbled about it for a minute. Most people did not like to talk about their families, for usually, that was the real essence of where their problems began. The mediator went around in a circle. She started with the person to her left and went around the circle. Each person could take as long as they needed to talk about their family, as long as they were honest about it. Kirsten was in the middle of the circle. She was facing the mediator. The group had been in session nearly an hour before they got to Kirsten. Kirsten looked around the room nervously before she spoke. She did not like sharing the intimate details of her life with strangers; however, it was part of the process.

"My family is from Newport Beach, California. My father was, until this past fall the CEO of the Newport Group. I am the Chief Financial Officer of the Newport Group, which deals in Real Estate," Kirsten explained.

"What was it like for you growing up?" The mediator asked.

"Um... it was good. We had everything we wanted. My dad and my mom gave us everything," Kirsten replied.

"You said 'us'. How many siblings did you have?" the mediator questioned.

"When I was growing up, there were four of us. My dad, my mom, and my sister Hailey. She's a lot younger than me. She was born when I was... ten. She was always 'Daddy's little girl'. Probably because she looked so much like my mother," Kirsten said.

"How did that make you feel," the mediator probed.

"Jealous, I'll admit," Kirsten answered. "It seemed like she could do everything right - no matter what, and I felt like I always had to prove myself to my dad."

"What about your mom?" the mediator asked.

"She was... she was an alcoholic," Kirsten admitted. "I guess with Dad working all the time, she turned to alcohol."

"I see," the mediator said. "What was life like for you as a teenager growing up in Newport?"

"It was all right. We had a lot of fun - probably too much fun," Kirsten told the group.

"Did you have a boyfriend?" the mediator asked.

"Yes, uh... Jimmy Cooper. He turned out to be my next door neighbor when we were adults," Kirsten replied.

"How long did you date?" the mediator asked.

"All through high school, and into college. We had broken up by the time I graduated with my bachelor's degree in art history," Kirsten said.

"Why did you two break-up?" the mediator questioned.

"A variety of reasons, I suppose. We just began to go out separate ways, I guess," Kirsten said. She did not want to tell the group that their break-up was sparked by her abortion. No one knew about it. Jimmy did not even know. It had been over twenty years, and she had not told anyone because she knew what could happen.

"So after college, what happened?" the mediator asked.

"I met someone named Sandy Cohen. He was from New York City, and he was different from anyone that I'd ever met here," Kirsten said.

"Did you like that about him?" the mediator asked.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Kirsten replied. She smiled and laughed. "We lived out of the back of a mail truck for a while. About a year after we met, we got married in January of 1985. We moved to a house in Berkeley, and we had Seth, our son, two years later."

"What does your husband do for a profession?" the mediator asked.

"He is a lawyer," Kirsten answered.

"What made you come back to Newport?" the mediator asked.

"My mother got sick. She got ovarian cancer, so we came back to Newport to be with her," Kirsten said. "We got a house in one of my father's developments, which happened to be right next to the Coopers, and I got a job at the Newport Group. And Newport is where I have been ever since."

"Now what has happened recently with your family? When I spoke with your husband he mentioned that you both have guardianship over a teenage boy, and you have had some family problems in the past year," the mediator said.

"Uh... yes. About two years ago, Sandy brought a client home. He used to work in the police department's office, as like an assistant district attorney. Basically a court-appointed attorney. Anyway, he brought a boy home, Ryan, who had ended up in juvenile detention because of a car his older brother had stolen. When Sandy tried to bring the boy home, his family had abandoned him, so we took him in, and sought guardianship," Kirsten explained.

"What about the problems with your father, that your husband spoke of?" the mediator asked.

"Ah, yes. This past fall my father was having some legal issues with one of the people on the city counsel," Kirsten said. She paused for a moment before going on. "It turned out that my father had an affair, and out of that affair these two people had created a child, Lindsey. She was about the same age as Seth and Ryan."

"How did this make you feel, Kirsten?" the mediator asked.

"It made me feel mad and ashamed at my father, and sad for the girl. She grew up not knowing where she came from - or anything like that," Kirsten said.

"Did you accept her into your family?" the mediator questioned.

"Yes, we did. She got to know me, my dad, Sandy, and the kids," Kirsten replied. She was getting a little sick of talking.

"Well, that's good. That's good. Anyway, let's move on to our next person, Robert," the mediator said.

Kirsten was glad that her turn was over. She did not like sharing the intimate details of her life with a group of people; however, she understood that this was an exercise not to be evaluated, but to gain trust within the group - to show that although everyone came from a different background - they were no different from each other.

Two hours later, the meeting ended, and Kirsten went back to her room. Everyone had their own room at the facility, which made everything nice and private for the guests. Kirsten was a little worried that she had not heard from Sandy, so she decided to call him from her room. She dialed the number, and waited for an answer.

"Hello," Sandy said.

"Sandy, it's me," Kirsten replied.

"Kirsten!" Sandy exclaimed. "How are you?"

"How are you? I've tried to call several times, but there has been no one there, and no one has returned my messages. Is everything okay?" Kirsten asked.

"You'd better be sitting for this," Sandy replied. He knew that he could not keep this from his wife - it was too big. "When I brought you to Suriak, Trey died. Marissa - Marissa shot him."

"What?" Kirsten asked. She was not she had heard Sandy right. Why would Marissa shoot Trey?

"When I took the boys to Miami, Trey attacked Marissa. Well, Ryan found out, and you know how Ryan is - he flew off the handle. He went over to Trey's to 'end things' with him. I guess Seth told Marissa what was happening, and she went to Trey's to stop what she knew was going to happen. She came in to find Trey punching Ryan, so she picked up a gun, and shot him. Oh, it's a long story, Honey. One we will deal more with when you come back," Sandy told Kirsten.

"How is everyone dealing with it?" Kirsten asked.

"Well, I'm fine. Seth's fine - so is Summer, for that matter. They are a little shocked, but fine overall. Ryan... he'll get through it. He's a strong kid. Besides, I suspect he initiated the fight, in the first place. Marissa... she'll have a hard time with it for awhile," Sandy replied.

"So it's been crazy, huh?" Kirsten said. She heard a knocking on the door - telling her it was lunch time. "I've gotta go, Sandy, it's lunchtime. I'll talk to you later, okay. Love you."

"Love you too, bye," Sandy said.


	17. The Intrusion

Julie looked at her watch. It read four o' clock in the afternoon. She was somewhat frustrated that Marissa was not out of bed yet. Although she knew that her daughter liked to sleep until the late hours of the day, she was worried about her because of the recent events that had transpired. Julie was afraid that her daughter was suffering from depression. Becoming increasingly worried as the time passed, Julie went up to her daughter's room. She knocked on the door twice before entering. There was no answer either time.

Julie decided to enter her room. She found a mess that she could hardly get through. Clothes were strewn about. Make-up kits were everywhere. CD's were lying around and the window coverings were closed, as to limit the amount of light that was allowed to enter into the room. When she finally did make her way to Marissa's bed, she found three empty vodka bottles lying on the ground, next to the bed, and Marissa passed out on top of the bed.

Infuriated, Julie marched out of her daughter's room, and down the stairs to call Jimmy. He had been over visiting with Sandy for a while. The two former business partners had been looking for a chance to catch up since the funerals, and the events with Kirsten. Julie picked up the phone in the kitchen and called Jimmy's cell phone. It rang three times. She prayed that he would pick up.

"Hello," Jimmy answered.

"Jimmy, it's me. Can you come here. It's really important," Julie pleaded.

"What's it about, Jules?" Jimmy asked. He knew what her idea of important could be - like ceramic shower curtain rings from Morocco .

"It's about Marissa. I went upstairs to wake her up because it's four in the afternoon, and I found her passed out on her bed with three empty bottles of vodka beside her. Jimmy, that's not normal. Not for any other teen, and not for Marissa," Julie explained to her ex-husband.

"All right, I'll be right over," Jimmy agreed.

Julie went into the living room and sat down silently. She thought about her daughter - about how much she really loved her, even though they never saw eye-to-eye on anything. She knew that she was the cause for most of Marissa's anguish and drinking. Julie did understand, on some level, why she and her daughter did not have the greatest relationship. However, her recent behavior went deeper than that now. The anger was no longer directed at her mother, it was directed at herself and the world, which worried Julie more than before because it was making Marissa increasingly self-destructive.

The front door opened and Julie rushed to see who it was, although she knew it was Jimmy. She hugged him and took him into the kitchen, so they could talk. He sat down on one side of the kitchen table, and she sat down across from him.

"What do we do, Jimmy?" Julie asked.

"I don't know," Jimmy replied. They sat across from each other silently for a moment. "We should probably wait and talk to Marissa when she wakes up, and call her doctors."

"Probably," Julie agreed. "And she seemed to be getting better too, and this had to happen. Ryan is no good for her."

"Hey, this is not Ryan's fault. Trey was the one who attacked Marissa, and Trey was the one who was attacking Ryan, when Marissa..." Jimmy trailed off.

"Well, if Ryan hadn't brought him here in the first place, then none of this would have happened, now would it?" Julie retorted.

Jimmy did not feel inclined to disagree - Julie did have a point, but he had nothing against Ryan, in fact, Ryan himself seemed to be a good thing for Marissa, in the past, and he knew that this was not directly Ryan's fault - it was theirs'. They sat at the table silently for a long time. Neither one of them knew what to say to each other. They both hoped that Marissa would wake up, so they could talk with her, and figure out what to do with their daughter.

Finally, about two hours later, while Julie was making dinner, Marissa got up. She got dressed and went downstairs. She looked in the living room for her parents, not realizing what time it was, then she walked into the kitchen. She smelled the lasagna her mother was making, and saw her father reading the paper at the table.

"Wow, that smells good," Marissa commented. She went and sat down next to her father at the table. Her mother had already set the places for them to eat at. Everyone was very silent. Marissa began to catch on that something was wrong, but she did not want to bring anything up.

Her mother took the lasagna out of the oven, and let it cool on top of the stove for a moment. She got the iced tea out of the refrigerator, and filed their glasses with it. Once she had set the glasses on the table, Julie got the lasagna off of the stove and served it onto the plates. Once she had served everyone, they all sat down at the table to eat.

"So Marissa, how was your sleep?" her mother inquired.

"It was fine, Mom," Marissa replied.

"Did the vodka help?" Julie said, getting to the point. Marissa glared at her mother.

"Julie, this isn't the time," Jimmy pointed out. "We're having a family dinner."

"You went in my room - without my permission," Marissa replied, astounded.

"Honey, it was four 'o clock in the afternoon. I was worried about you. I know you like to sleep late, but never _that_ late," her mother explained.

"You went through my stuff!" Marissa exclaimed.

"Sweety, I didn't have to go through your stuff. The alcohol bottles were sitting right there - in plain sight," her mother said, defending herself.

"Look, whatever. I don't have to listen to this," Marissa said as she walked out of the room. She went upstairs to her bedroom. Her father waited for her to get up the stairs, and then he went after her. He found her lying on her bed with Share Bear.

"Hey, kiddo," her father greeted her.

"What do you want?" Marissa asked, in that moody tone she could have.

"Just to see how you are doing. Listen, your mom didn't have the right to go in your room without your permission, but you don't have the right - in this house, or by law - to drink. That means that your mom and I automatically have to right to go into your room and go through your things. We care about you, a lot, and we want to make sure that everything is all right... which is why we have decided that you need to go back to therapy, Marissa," Jimmy explained.

"What? Dad no! I'm fine. I mean, a lot has happened, but I'm fine. I can deal with it," Marissa protested.

"Judging by what I heard about, and have seen today, Kiddo, no, you can't deal with this by yourself. You need someone to talk to - to vent to - who is impartial, which is why your mother and I have scheduled an appointment for you with Dr. Milano for tomorrow afternoon," her father explained calmly.

"Fine. Whatever. How long do I have to go for?" Marissa asked.

"As long as she, your mother, and myself feel is necessary," Jimmy answered. Marissa sighed and laid back down on her bed with her bear. Her father stayed sitting next to her. They both knew this summer would not be fun.


	18. The Shrink

Marissa walked into the psychiatrist's office the next afternoon with apprehension. Although she had walked into her office many times before, it always felt as if she were walking through those doors for the first time. Whenever Marissa thought of someone who went to see a psychiatrist - she thought of someone with a mental disorder, like schizophrenia. Never did she think of someone like herself - someone with a family, money, potential, and without mental illness.

She gave the secretary her name, and she went to sit down in one of the chairs. She picked up a copy of _People_ magazine, and began to flip through it. Almost immediately after she started to read an article, the doctor came out and asked for Marissa to come into her office. Marissa went in and sat down on the couch across from the chair the psychiatrist was in.

"Hi, Marissa. It's been awhile since we last saw each other," Dr. Milano pointed out. Marissa had only come twice the previous year.

"Hi... Dr. Milano," Marissa replied.

"So I talked with your mother, and she said that you have had a lot happen since the last time you saw me," Dr. Milano said. "Do you want to talk about some of it?"

"What's it matter? I mean, that's what I'm here to do, right. I have to. I don't want to," Marissa explained.

"Why don't we start with the obvious and most recent reason as to why you are here. Trey Atwood. You are dating his brother, Ryan, are you not?" Dr. Milano asked.

"I was dating Ryan," Marissa said, correcting the psyciatrist.

"And how did this come to be?" the doctor asked.

"Trey died," Marissa replied. She wanted to give the doctor as little information as possible. She knew that she would just go off and tell her parents - since she was under age.

"How did Trey die?" Dr. Milano probed.

"I shot him. Trey was attacking Ryan, and I shot him. There are you happy now? I vented my problems to you!" Marissa yelled as she stormed out the door. She could not bare to talk about what had happened to anyone - to almost anyone that is.


	19. The Bond

Ryan lay on his bed, in the pool house reading one of Seth's comic books. It was the new _Legion_ comic in the series. Although he was not a big proponent of comic books, he had nothing better to do this one lazy, early summer afternoon. Seth was off with Summer - doing God knows what and Sandy was at the office working with one of his clients. Suddenly, he heard a knocking on the wall of the pool house. He propped himself up to see who it was. Marissa waved hesitantly at Ryan.

"Hey, is it all right that I stopped by?" she asked. She did not move from where she was standing.

"Uh... yeah, sure. Wanna sit down?" Ryan offered. He sat up, and moved over to make room for Marissa, but she went and sat down in one of the wicker chairs that were in front of him. "Something you want to talk about?"

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry, again, about your brother. About everything," Marissa responded.

"Thanks..." Ryan trailed off. He took a deep breath. "It's been hard to talk about this to anyone. No one really seems to understand."

"Same here." Marissa agreed. "I've tried to talk to my mom and my therapist, but they just don't get it. Summer really doesn't understand either, for that matter. My dad is cool, though. I mean, he doesn't understand everything, but he tries, and supports me."

"That's good. Sandy and Seth want me to talk about it, but it just doesn't feel right - to talk to them. I mean, I'm not upset about what happened, and I'm not mad at you. I guess I was at the time, but it was just the shock of everything. In fact, I'm glad that you did... what you did because who knows if I would be here otherwise, right?" Ryan replied. He gave her a grin.

"Yeah. I'm still pretty freaked out about it. I mean, I still have to go to a judge or trial, whatever. I still have to have a lawyer, and I still have to live with the fact that I killed someone," Marissa said.

"Hey, if you ever want to talk about it or anything," Ryan told her.

"Thanks, but we're just friends, remember?" Marissa said, reminding him.

"Yeah, I know, but friends still talk about stuff, and friends can still go to the movies together. And we have a common interest. We both hated Trey," Ryan said, trying to cheer her up.

"Well, that's true. Maybe I will take you up on your offer sometime," Marissa replied with a smile, as she got up from the chair and began to exit from the pool house.

"The offer still stands," Ryan answered, as he waved good-bye to her. "Thanks for stopping by."

Ryan and Marissa felt a sense of relief after their brief conversation. Although Marissa had thought that when she shot Trey, their relationship as they knew it was over, she now felt a sense of relief knowing that Ryan would still continue to be in her life, in any capacity. She was happy to have him as a friend - someone to confide in - besides Summer. Besides, they would always share their common bond - Trey.


	20. Soap Operas

Seth lied on Summer's bed with her. He was on top of her stroking her hair, and kissing her lucius, pink lips. The two of them had not really made out in a very long time. Summer had her arms wrapped around Seth and kissed him back rather passionately. However, she began to think about Marissa, and how she was doing. She stopped kissing Seth, and motioned to sit up. He sat up next to her.

"What's wrong?" Seth asked Summer. He was afraid that he really was not up to parr for her taste, after all, she had been with Zack, who was a water polo player.

"Nothing, I guess," Summer said. "It's just Marissa. I can't stop thinking about her. I mean is she really okay? She hardly talks to me."

Seth began to say something sarcastic, and then held it back. He knew that this was not the time to make a witty joke about his girlfriend's best friend. Seth had just gotten Summer back, and he did not want to lose her over something like this, for he knew that she could be touchy about things, especially when it pertained to someone or something she cared about very much.

"Maybe she's still dealing with what happened. Ryan really isn't that talkative either," Seth told Summer.

"Cohen, Ryan never talks, and I don't think she ever did deal with what happened," Summer added. She looked at him with a look on her face that said "duh".

"Yeah, but he hasn't been talking to me, you, my dad, and I know you don't want to hear her name, but he doesn't talk to Theresa either. I don't think he and Marissa talk really. Ryan is more of a brooder, if you know what I mean," Seth explained.

"Well, of course he isn't going to talk to Marissa, Cohen. I mean, she shot his brother. She is probably afraid to talk to him, for all we know," Summer retorted.

"Dude, our lives are like such a soap opera," Seth said. He lied back down on Summer's bed and put his hands behind his head.

"It really is like a soap opera around here, isn't it?" Summer replied, agreeing with Seth. She went back down on him, and began to kiss him again, feeling impervious to the world around them.


	21. Love

Jimmy answered the phone that night after dinner. Marissa, Julie, and Kaitlin, who had just come home from boarding school were watching a movie in the family room. Jimmy ran into the kitchen to answer the phone. He figured it was Sandy calling about the case, and he did not want to upset Kaitlin, who knew hardly anything about what had happened since she had been gone. He knew that Marissa would be distraught if she knew it was Sandy calling, as well. Jimmy knew that she was afraid of what was in her future.

"Sandy, hey," Jimmy said, answering the phone.

"Hey, Jimbo, how are you?" Sandy asked, trying to make some conversation before he got to the point of the phone call.

"I'm fine, how 'bout you? Have you talked with Kirsten?" Jimmy asked. Although it really was not his place to ask, he had to know about Kirsten. They had been friends since they were young children.

"She's fine. She says the place is very nice, and she gives her regards to everyone. Listen I talked with the D.A. and they don't have a lot against Marissa, but I will need to talk with her in the morning, is that okay?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah, sure, that's fine. I'll let her know. What time were you thinking of dropping by?" Jimmy wondered.

"Is around 10 good for you?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah, sure. We'll see you then," Jimmy replied. He walked back into the family room and sat back down on the couch. Marissa looked up at him.

"Who was that, Dad?" Marissa asked. She continued to look at her father.

Hesitant, Jimmy replied, "That was Sandy. He wants to stop by tomorrow morning to talk to you. He is coming by around 10."

"Okay," Marissa said, agreeing to meet with him. She turned around to watch the rest of the movie, unfazed by the conversation.

The next morning Jimmy and Julie had breakfast on the table at 8:30 in the morning. Julie at made blueberry pancakes. She set everything out on the kitchen table. They could just hear Kaitlin moving around in her room. Marissa had not woken up yet. Before Kaitlin came down, Jimmy and Julie got their plan together about what was going to happen that day.

"Why don't I take Kaitlin to the movies, shopping or something today? You should stay here with Marissa and Sandy - you two get along better. I mean, she actually listens to you, unlike me. She doesn't seem to hear a word I say most of the time," Julie told Jimmy.

"All right," he said, agreeing with his ex-wife. "And for the record, Marissa hears you, she just chooses not to listen."

"And how do you know this?" Julie asked. She put her hands on her hips and looked at Jimmy.

Jimmy sat down in one of the chairs, and began to eat his pancakes. He tried to finish chewing before he answered her. "She told me one day. You know, Julie, before I left, Marissa and I were quite close, or at least I like to think we were..." he drifted off.

"You guys were close," Julie replied, corroborating what Jimmy said. "You were her rock. She _really_ loves you, Jimmy. She doesn't _really_ love me."

"She does really love you, Jules," Jimmy answered, trying to cheer her up.

"No, Jimmy, she doesn't. She loves me because she has to. She loves you because she wants to," Julie explained. They silently ate after that, for they both knew it was true. Finally, Kaitlin came down the stairs, into the kitchen, and sat down at the breakfast table to eat.

"Hi, sweety. Did you have a good sleep," her mother asked.

"Yep, Mommy, I did," Kaitlin replied. Although she was twelve, she was rather small, which gave her the appearance of being younger than she was.

"So I was thinking that we could have a girls' day out today, okay?" Julie suggested. "You and me can go out and do things - just the two of us, okay?"

"Um... sure, I'll go get ready," Kaitlin said with a grin. She loved all of the attention that she was getting since she had come back home. It had been nine months since she had seen her parents, and she did not want to go back for another year she had decided.


	22. Opposing Council

It was nearly 10:15 when Sandy showed up to Julie's house. When he walked up to the front door, he thought it was strange that he would never see Caleb Nichol again. A man he despised and loathed, but yet at the same time, a man whom he liked and cared about. Things had become a lot different in recent weeks, as everyone knew.

Sandy rang the door bell. He could hear someone coming to the door, although he did not know who. Jimmy opened the door for Sandy. They exchanged greetings, and he motioned for Sandy to come inside the house. Jimmy explained to Sandy that Kaitlin and Julie were out of the house that morning, so they could have the most privacy possible, while still being in the idyllic setting of their own home. They walked into the kitchen to find Marissa drinking a glass of orange juice. She smiled and said "hello" to Sandy, and her father. It appeared that she had not gotten out of bed long ago. Her hair was still messy, and her clothes were just sweat clothes. She went to sit down at the table, when Sandy told them what was going on.

"How you doin', Marissa?" Sandy asked quickly before getting to his point.

"I'm fine, so what did you want to talk about?" Marissa replied, getting to the point.

"The reason why I was late is that I got a call from the D.A. He wants to see us," Sandy answered.

"What does that mean?" Jimmy asked. He slowly sat down at the table, next to Marissa. He tried to support and be there for his daughter as much as possible these days.

"Well, it means that we have to go down to the police station to see him," Sandy explained. He looked at his watch, and then looked back at Jimmy and Marissa. "And he is expecting us at 10:45, this morning."

"What?" Jimmy and Marissa said, in unison. They did not realize that they would be facing Trey's lawyers so soon. Marissa became engulfed with fear. She did not know what was going to happen to her, or what could happen to her. She felt as if she were being led around in the dark every step of the way. Jimmy became slightly frantic, as well. He did not want to lose his daughter.

Marissa went upstairs to her bedroom. She wanted to make herself seem presentable, without seeming conceited or too wealthy. She chose a dark blue skirt with a white button down shirt. The outfit seemed appropriate for the occasion. Professional, but simple. She put on some black mary-jane's, then went and sat down at her vanity to put on her make-up. She wanted to look presentable. She put on, foundation, make-up under the eyes to cover up her dark circles, some light eye shadow, mascara, eye liner, and lipstick. With that she knew she was ready to go. Although it may have seemed superficial to others, she felt more complete with the make-up on her face. She felt as if it helped to make her more of a whole person. Superficially, Marissa felt that the make-up helped to conceal her imperfections - not beauty - but within herself.

Finally, she went downstairs to meet her father and Sandy. Both men were now dressed in suits. Sandy was dressed in a black suit, while her father was dressed in a blue suit. They all went out the front door, and got into Sandy's black BMW and drove to the Newport Beach Police Station. The car ride was fairly silent. Marissa sat in the back while her father and Sandy sat up front. The drive from her house to the police station was only a matter of about five minutes. Sandy parked the car, and the three of them got out and went inside the building. Sandy went up to the receptionist and told them who they were there to see. Once he told her, they walked down the corridor to the same interrogation room that Marissa had been in while they were holding her. Marissa began to get goose bumps. She did not want to go back into that room - not again. The three of them went in and sat down across from a man. He did not appear threatening, which relieved Marissa and her father to an extent.

"Mr. Cohen. Miss Cooper... and you are?" he asked of Jimmy.

"I'm James Cooper, Marissa's father," Jimmy replied. He made sure to use his real name, in case they needed it later.

"All right. My name is Chris Caldwell, I'm the D.A. who is representing Trey Atwood," the attorney explained. "Now as far as I can see, Marissa has a clean record, good grades, and an assortment of extracurricular activities, so I don't really understand the reasoning behind this... but anyway, I'm going to need statements from everyone that was there that night, starting with you, Marissa."

She gulped. Marissa did not want to say anything that would incriminate herself, but as Sandy had said in the past, lying is a federal offensive. She took a deep breath, and began to speak, "Do you just want the events of that night, or the events leading up to what took place that night?"

"Both," the attorney replied. "It gives me a better understanding of how to proceed."

Marissa sighed, and began to tell the District Attorney everything. She started with Trey's release from jail, and how she had met him once before, while he was in prison. She told him about how he had been staying with the Cohens, and how the crystal ball was stolen during the charity event by Trey, Trey's apartment, Jess Sathers, how Trey attacked her, and how Ryan - Trey's younger brother, and her boyfriend - found out about the attack. Finally, she told him about her role in the events of that fateful night, and how if she had not shot Trey - he would have killed Ryan.

The district attorney seemed slightly shocked. He asked more about the Cohens - their home address, and the people who lived in the household. He also asked about who was there to witness what had happened that night. Marissa told him everything. Sandy assured her that the best way to help herself was to tell everything. They sat talking to the district attorney for an hour and a half, hoping that each statement that Marissa made would help to exonerate her from the crime.


	23. Long Summer Days

It had been three months since Marissa had gone to see the district attorney, and nothing had happened about the shooting. No one had heard anything about the fate of Marissa Cooper over the summer, and now school was about to start.

Marissa was apprehensive about starting her senior year at The Harbor School. She knew that people would frown upon her for what she had done, and worse - she would be even more outcast than she already was. Not only had her dad defrauded everyone, but she had overdosed on painkillers, and now she had killed someone. The only way that she felt that she could escape from her pain was to drown her sorrows in alcohol just about every day.

Usually, this went unnoticed. Her mother was always out shopping or at the Newport Group. Jimmy went back to Hawaii recently to pack up his things and get his business affairs in order, so that he could move back to Newport. Kaitlin had gone with her father to Hawaii because she had not been before, and to spend some quality time with her father - alone. Since she had gone away to boarding school, she had not seen her father for quite sometime, and now they had the chance to bond again. This meant that Marissa was left home alone, most of the time. Sandy would try and drop in on her some mornings before he went to the office, but she was usually asleep at that early hour. Sometimes she would make plans with Summer, but most of the time, these days, she would spend her days wallowing in self-pity - drinking whatever she could find.

Summer tried to be a friend to Marissa, but she found it hard to be a good friend to her. Whenever Summer saw her now, it bothered her to see Marissa like this. Each time Summer saw Marissa, she saw Marissa becoming more and more like her step-mother. She felt as if there was nothing that she could do to help her best friend. Marissa's behavior drove Summer closer and closer to Seth over time. At the beginning of the summer, Summer and Seth were just kids who had puppy love for one another, and now they were two adults who were passionate lovers. Everyday they yearned to be with one another. Together, they were one complete person, but apart - they were only pieces of a whole.

Surprisingly, Ryan had dealt with the situation rather well. While he had been initially saddened by the loss of his brother, he came to terms with it quickly. Ryan knew that if Marissa had not shot and killed Trey, Ryan would not be there. He just wished that Marissa would realize that. He wished that Marissa would look at the positive side of the situation, and not the negative side. Most of the time, he would hang out with Seth, leisurely hanging out in the pool, playing Play Station, seeing a movie, or playing some shuffleboard in an old age home; but once in a while, when Seth was doing something that only he and Summer could engage in... Ryan would take Kirsten's car and drive down to Chino. He never stopped at Theresa's house, but he would drive by a couple of times, and think about how different his life would have been if the Cohens' had not taken him in, or if Theresa had not lost the baby.

Over the summer, Sandy had buried himself in work to give him something to do. With Kirsten gone, he felt as if he had lost his companion and closest friend. He did not know what to do with himself sometimes. Sandy still tried to go out surfing every morning, and he and the boys would have dinner together every night; however when he climbed into bed was when he felt the most alone. Not having Kirsten at night was the hardest. Since the two of them had demanding schedules, that was the time when they would see each other, and now there was no one to see. No one to come home for.


	24. Senior Year

Five days later, school was starting. Marissa woke up at six in the morning in order to get ready for her first day of her senior year at The Harbor School. Slowly, she made her way out of her bed and into the bathroom, so she could shower, and get dressed. She chose something casual to wear that day. Some jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt with a pair of sneakers. Nothing flashy. She wanted to blend in as much as possible this first day. Then she went back into her room to put on her make-up. Once again, she wanted to blend in as much as possible. She tried not to overload herself with make-up.

Finally, an hour and a half later, she made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen where her mother was preparing breakfast. It appeared that Julie was making Pop Tarts. "How original," Marissa thought to herself. Kaitlin was sitting at the table, waiting for her mother to serve her the Pop Tarts. She was wearing a new mini skirt, a new top. Although Kaitlin had not seemed to have physically grown much in the past year, Marissa saw a new Kaitlin - not the one she knew the previous year. She seemed knowing, but still possessed a child-like innocence. Marissa sat down across from Kaitlin.

"So Kaity, ready for your first day of school?" Marissa asked. Her sister shrugged.

"I guess," she replied softly. "I don't really know anyone here anymore." Julie had enrolled her younger daughter to attend the same school that Marissa had while she was in junior high. She was entering the seventh grade. It was a good school, which led right into the competitive Harbor School.

"I know the feeling," Marissa said with a sigh. She sat at the table with her mother and sister and ate her Pop Tarts. They ate silently.

"Kaitlin, I can drop you off on my way to the office, and Daddy can pick you up, okay?" her mother told her. Kaitlin nodded while she ate. After the three of them finished eating they went to their various places. Marissa drove herself to school, and her mother went to work and took her sister to school.

When Marissa got to school, she did to want to get out of the car, for she was afraid of what was going to happen when she did. Even from the inside of her car, she could see people looking at her and saying things. Although she did not know what they were saying, she could tell. She thought about turning around, and skipping. Maybe she would go to South Coast Plaza and do some shopping, then she saw this black S.U.V. pull in next to her. It looked like Kirsten Cohen's car, but Marissa knew that it was not Kirsten who was inside. It dawned on her then that it was Seth and Ryan. Ryan looked out of the passenger window, down into Marissa's driver seat window. When Seth turned off the car, they got out of the car. Seth went off to find Summer, and Ryan stood there for a second. Marissa was still sitting there in her red, Ford Mustang. Then, he decided to knock on her window. She opened it for him.

"Hey, thinking of skipping?" Ryan asked her.

She smiled at him. Marissa replied, "I'm so afraid to go in there."

"Yeah, but the more you put it off, the worse it gets," Ryan told her.

"I have no one, though. All of my 'friends' hate me, I mean, besides Summer. Senior year is going to be hell," Marissa sighed.

"Well, you have me," Ryan told her. "And I need someone to walk to me to home room. Wanna walk with me?" He hoped that he could convince her not to skip the first day of her senior year of high school.

She gave him a weak smile, and replied, "All right."


	25. The Longest Day

Marissa looked at the clock. She had only been in school for two hours, and yet it seemed as if she had been there for days. Time seemed as if it were not ticking at all, at least for Marissa Cooper. Everywhere she went, people were staring at her and talking about her. Most people that stared at her were afraid that she was going to go and kill them next, ignorant to the circumstances surrounding Trey's death, while the people who were talking about her were the ones who were the daughters and sons of the police officers who had been at the scene that fateful night.

The bell rang, which meant it was time to switch classes. She took her schedule out of her purse, and looked at it. Her next class was Advanced Placement English IV with Mr. Gillis in room 324. "How exciting," she thought to herself. Marissa stood up, got out of her seat, and began to walk across the campus to get to her next class. On the way, she saw the other kids snickering about her. If only they knew what had really happened that night. The five minute walk seemed as if were hours long. When kids saw her coming, they all stopped what they were doing and stared.

When she got to the class, she found a seat in the back corner of the room, a place she thought would be appropriate for her to sit. The kids started to file in when the bell rang. Most of them sat as far away as possible from Marissa Cooper. Others were forced to sit near her. Just when the teacher thought everyone had walked in, another soul walked through the door. He came in, and sat down at her table, not afraid of her, like the others.

"Hey, Marissa," the boy greeted her.

"Hey, Ryan," she replied. She smiled. Never before that class had she felt so alone - now she was not so alone.

The teacher soon began after Ryan walked into the room. He asked the kids about their summer, and what not. Then he got down to business. He proposed a project for the kids about their summer reading, in which they would do in pairs. They were to act out a scene from any one of the four books that they were assigned to read that summer. After acting out the scene to the class, they would explain the themes and literary devices demonstrated within that scene. Then he read off the partnerships. Ryan looked at Marissa - they had been paired together. She tried not to show how pleased she was that they had been paired together, mainly because she did not know how Ryan felt about the two of them working together.

After fifty long minutes, the class ended and they went to lunch. She decided to eat out of the cafeteria today. Maybe she would have a bacon cheeseburger with some cookies and milk today. When she had gotten her lunch, she went and sat down at her usual table, and began to eat slowly. Summer soon joined her, along with Seth. Marissa was grateful to have the company.

"So, Marissa," Seth began, "How has the first day of senior hell been for you?"

Marissa sighed. She began to play with the food on her plate with her plastic spork. "As good as can be expected, I guess," she replied.

"Coop, don't worry - Cohen and I - we'll get you through this," Summer told her. She took another swig of her Mountain Dew - Seth's favorite drink.

"Thanks, you guys," she replied. Marissa played with her food some more. "Do you guys think that life around here will ever go back to normal for us now?"

"Some day it will," Summer told her. She reached over to hug her best friend.

"Hey, where did Ryan go for lunch?" Marissa asked, wondering where he was. She knew that he really did not have very many other friends at the school besides Seth, Summer, and herself, which made her question his absence.

Seth finished chewing and replied, "The D.A. needed to talk with him about what happened. I guess he's going to talk to everyone that was there, or really knew Trey well."

"Oh," Marissa replied.


	26. The Guilty Party

Ryan walked into the police station that lunch time not feeling anything at all. He was beginning to forget how many times he had been to a police station for something or another. The many times his mother was placed in the "drunk tank", when his father was arrested for armed robbery, when his brother had been arrested several times in the past, and when he himself had been arrested. It was beginning to feel almost slightly routine.

He walked over to the front desk, and told the receptionist that he was there to see District Attorney Chris Caldwell. She glanced at him, and looked back at her appointment book. The receptionist was middle-aged. She had brown hair and brown eyes. Nothing about her stood out. She was ordinary, like everyone else. She looked back at Ryan and told him to go down the hall, and go in the room, which was the first door on his left. He thanked her, and walked down to the room where the district attorney was meeting him.

Ryan looked through the window first before entering the room. He did not know the man, but he appeared to be personable. Ryan took a deep breath, and walked through the door. The man stood up from his seat when Ryan entered the room. They exchanged greetings and shook hands. The district attorney sat down on one side of the table, and Ryan sat down on the other.

"I'm sorry about your brother," the district attorney began.

"Thanks," Ryan replied. He looked at the man for a second, and then looked back down, "We weren't that close."

"As I have come to understand. You understand why I need to talk to everyone who was there that night, don't you, Ryan?" He asked. Ryan nodded - he knew it was because his brother was dead. This man needed to understand what happened - without the person he was representing.

"Now as I see here, you are living with Sanford and Kirsten Cohen, and you have been living with them since the summer of... 2003, I'm correct with this statement, am I not?" he asked. Ryan, again nodded. "Your grades over the past two years are considerably higher than they were in the past - good for you! You have been in no substantial trouble of any kind since the Cohens' have gotten guardianship of you, I mean, aside from a couple of detentions. Now down to the meat of this - what happened the night your brother was shot?"

Ryan sighed. He knew that the district attorney had already spoken with several people. He did not want to tell him that he initiated the fight with Trey; however, Ryan figured that the district attorney already knew as much, from talking with others. "That night," Ryan started, but then paused. "That night, Seth, the Cohens' son told me about what happened between Marissa Cooper and Trey when we were in Miami. When Seth told me, I couldn't believe it. I mean, I knew Trey had done some things wrong in his life, but assault - attempted rape? It was a lot to take in."

"Now before we go any further, I want to clear some things up," the district attorney explained. Ryan nodded. "How did Seth find out about this?"

"Uh... his girlfriend, Summer Roberts, is Marissa's best friend. Marissa told Summer about what happened, and then she told Seth, who told me," Ryan answered truthfully.

"Now, Marissa Cooper, is she your friend, girlfriend, cousin...?" the district attorney questioned.

"She was my girlfriend at the time. We're just friends now," Ryan told him. He reached over for a glass of water from the water pitcher.

"All right, continue," he directed Ryan.

Ryan finished drinking the water, and continued, "After it processed, I went to see Trey - "

"Were you upset?" the district attorney inquired.

"Yeah, I guess," Ryan shrugged. "I confronted Trey about what happened. He said that he was drunk and high that night, and that he wasn't thinking. I guess I wasn't either because the next thing I knew, I was pushing Trey against the wall."

"So you initiated the fight?" he asked.

Ryan nodded. He did not want to lie, but he knew that this would incriminate himself. He replied, "Yeah, I started it, but soon he was getting the better of me. He had me down on the ground, and had pulled the telephone out of the wall, and was going to smash my head in. That's when Marissa came in. There was a gun that Trey had from the previous day. He was involved in some drug thing that went down at the Bait Shop, and that is what Marissa used to stop Trey."

The district attorney looked at him. He closed his folder, and said, "Well, thank you, Ryan, for coming in to speak with me today. I will be in touch if I need anything else."

Ryan shook his hand and left the building, and went back to school.


	27. The Distance

Sandy came home at four-thirty that afternoon. He really wanted to be home before six on the boys' first day of their senior year at The Harbor School. He put his suit coat on the back of the couch, for things were not as neat as they were when Kirsten was living there; however, it was by no means messy. He tried as much as possible to maintain what the house looked like when she was away, so that she would want to come home, and when she did come home, she would come home to a nice, clean house.

Sandy walked into the kitchen to try and start some dinner. He looked in the refrigerator to see what was on hand. "Chicken looks pretty good," Sandy thought to himself. He took it and set it on the counter. Then he went back to the refrigerator to find some vegetables. Sandy found a bag of mixed vegetables in the freezer, and thought those would be appropriate, then he looked in a cabinet, and found some Idaho potatoes, which would make a nice side dish. He did not hear any noise while he was cooking. No Playstation and no talking, which meant that Seth and Ryan were not home, most likely. Most afternoons, after school, Sandy would come home to find them in the family room playing video games or talking, of course, he usually was home later too.

About an hour later, dinner was ready. The potatoes had been mashed, the vegetables had been steamed, and the chicken had been baked. He got everything ready on the table. Sandy wanted to make life seem as if nothing had changed, so that the boys would have some sense of continuity in their hectic lives. Almost as soon as the plates were on the table, Seth and Ryan walked in the door. They walked into the kitchen and dropped their backpacks in the family room, momentarily.

"Hey, Dad," Seth said to his father, as he sat down at the table to eat. Sandy just put his plate down in front of him.

"Hey, guys. How come you were so late coming home from school?" Sandy asked of Ryan and Seth.

Ryan took a bite of his dinner, and answered, "Dr. Kim wanted to talk to all of us about what happened this past summer."

"All of you, as in the entire senior class?" Sandy wondered. He looked perplexed.

"All of us, as in me, Summer, Marissa, and Ryan, Dad. She wanted to talk to us about what has happened with Grandpa dying and Trey," Seth told his father.

"Oh... what did she say?" Sandy asked.

Seth looked at Ryan to field this answer. He told Sandy, "Uh... she wanted to know, if we felt that we were still able to attend Harbor, after all that's happened."

"And what did you guys tell her?" Sandy questioned, out of curiosity.

"We told her we could handle it, and that we had already invested this much time and money at Harbor, and we wanted to graduate from there," Seth told his father. He took another bite of the chicken.

"So what else happened today, besides Dr. Kim talking to you?" Sandy asked them, in hopes of eliciting a response.

"The D.A. wanted to talk to Ryan today," Seth told his father. Sandy looked over at Ryan a little surprised.

"Really? I didn't realize he would take you out of school," Sandy said to Ryan.

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to make a big thing about it, so I ducked out of lunch and went over to the police station, where the D.A. was," Ryan told Sandy. His mouth was dry from the chicken, so he took a drink of his water.

"Well, I don't think I could've gone with you, anyway. I mean, since I'm representing Marissa, going with you would be like a conflict of interest," Sandy explained.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I didn't ask you," Ryan replied. He finished off his dinner. He took his plate to the sink. Seth did the same when he finished his meal. They each got their book bags out of the family room, and went off to their separate rooms to do their homework. Sandy finished cleaning up dinner. He rinsed everything off, and put it in the dish washer. Then the phone began to ring. Sandy walked over to the refrigerator, where the phone was, and picked it up.

"Hello?" Sandy asked.

"Hi, it's me," Kirsten replied. She sat down on her bed in her room with the phone.

"Hey, honey! Boy, am I glad to hear from you!" Sandy exclaimed. He wanted her to know how much he missed her, and how much he wanted her to get better.

"Yeah, it's nice to hear from you too," Kirsten replied, with considerably less enthusiasm than her husband.

"So how is everything going there?" Sandy asked her. He sat down on one of the stools.

"Fine, I guess. I'm not drinking, if that's what you're wondering. How are things on your end?" Kirsten asked Sandy.

"As good as can be expected, I guess. Ryan talked with the D.A., and told him everything he knew, so did Marissa," Sandy told his wife.

"Well, that's good. Do you think they will be prosecuted for Trey's death?" Kirsten wondered. Things were silent for a minute. Since she had been gone, every time they talked, it had been harder and harder to find something to talk about.

"No, I don't. Or at least, I hope they're not. I mean, both of them are so close to graduating. Ryan has a real shot to be something, and I don't want this to screw it up," Sandy replied.

"I know..." Kirsten said, drifting off. She did not know what to say to her husband. Things were not the same between them anymore. "Well, I should get going. I love you."

"Love you too," Sandy replied. He put the phone down. He could feel the distance growing between him and his wife, and he did not know how to stop it.


	28. Independence

Kirsten set the phone down in her room. Her marriage had been strained for a long time. Starting even before Ryan came into her life, and became increasingly strained over time. It especially increased when Rebecca Bloom came back into Sandy's life. In recent months, sometimes Kirsten wondered if he ever did love her as much as he loved Rebecca. She thought that when Sandy looked at her, he saw a second place wife, but when he looked at Rebecca, he saw first place wife. Of course, the distance between them was worsened by Carter Buckley showing up into Kirsten's life. When Kirsten saw Carter, she saw someone who was like a younger Sandy, which is what attracted her to him in the first place.

While she was at the treatment center, Kirsten came to realize that she was not sure that she wanted to be with Sandy anymore, and that maybe - they were not really meant to be together. Of course, this could have been the anti-depressants talking, or maybe all the vomit that had accumulated while she was going through detox; however, there was something inside of her that wanted to know if she was missing out on something out there in the world. Something that could be great.

Her period at the treatment center was ending, and she had been invited to spend some time at a home of one of the women who were also in the treatment center with her. At first, Kirsten had not thought seriously about this, but as her time was approaching to leave that serene place, she was considering the offer more and more. Maybe more time away from Sandy would do her some good.

She looked at her watch. It was about time for her appointment with the psychiatrist. This was her last visit him. She got up off of her bed, exited her room, and walked down the hall to where his office was. She waited outside in the secretary's office, for her turn to see him. It did not take more than a minute for his last patient to leave, then Kirsten entered. She sat down in one of his chairs, and he sat at his desk.

"Hi, Kirsten, thanks for seeing me," he greeted her.

"No problem," she replied.

"So this is your last meeting with me, and I have some questions for you. Some things from your medical records, which I just don't understand," the psychiatrist told Kirsten.

"You have access to my medical files?" she asked him.

"Seeing as how I am a doctor myself, yes, I am privy to your medical records," he answered her.

"What don't you understand?" Kirsten wondered.

"You have been pregnant twice, but only given birth to one child, is that correct?" he questioned.

"Yes... I was pregnant when I was in high school, but I had an abortion," Kirsten told the psychiatrist.

"Do you think that may have affected you becoming an alcoholic?" he asked her.

"No," Kirsten said.

"Why not?" the psychiatrist probed.

"Because I was okay with the decision that I made," Kirsten replied.

"Does your husband know?" he asked.

"No, he doesn't. This happened years before I met Sandy. It had nothing to do with him. He doesn't need to know," Kirsten told the doctor.

"Well, anyway, that was just a discrepancy that I wanted to clear up. Your progress has been terrific, Kirsten. If you ever need someone to talk to, any one of us here is willing to talk, just remember that," he said, his parting words to her.

"I'll keep that in mind," Kirsten told him. She stood up, and shook hands with the doctor.

"What are your plans, after here?" he asked of her.

"I think I might stay with a friend of mine for awhile, before going home," Kirsten replied. He shook his head approvingly, and she left the room. Now it seemed official in her mind, now that she had told someone. She was leaving Sandy, even if it was only temporarily.


	29. Changes

It had been three days since Kirsten had left the Suriak Rehabilitation Center. She felt a sense of freedom, now that she was out. That she could do what she wanted, when she wanted. No longer did she have to follow a schedule, or the rules of others. Of course, she intended to stay sober, otherwise, she would not have completed the treatment program. During this span of three days, she had moved in with a woman she had met at the treatment center. Her name was Charlotte. She did not live extremely close to where Kirsten resided in Orange County. Kirsten had in fact decided to stay at her house, for a while to gain some perspective on her life while living in the real world, and not at the treatment center. She would still go to work, and do her normal daily activities; however, she would not go home to Sandy, Seth, and Ryan at night.

Kirsten was happy, for what seemed to be the first time in a long time. Maybe it was the fact that she was independent. That she did not have a husband and children hanging off her every second. Maybe it was the fact that she felt free - free from conforming to Newport society. Any way, though, Kirsten felt like a new person.

At home, things were different. Sandy always felt as if the house were going to fall apart. Kirsten had always handled nearly everything - except the cooking. Now, it was Sandy's turn to step up to the plate. He had to handle everything now, which made everything seem harder on him and the kids. Sandy tried to be home by six every night, so he could make dinner, and spend sometime with Seth and Ryan. Although they were both teenagers, he knew that it was still important to spend time together as a family.

Although Ryan loved living with the Cohens', he was beginning feel as if his new life was starting to fall apart. He had left Chino to leave the drinking and the broken families behind, and now it appeared that it was happening again in Newport. Every day, he would pray that his new life would go back to normal - that Kirsten would come back all right, and that the trouble with the district attorney would go away. It seemed that everything that he had gained in the past two years was slipping away, and he did not want that to happen.

A lot of the time, Ryan would think about Marissa. He would contemplate if it would be weird to go out with Marissa, after all that had happened between them. Could they date each other? Ryan still had feelings for her. He loved her very much, and had loved her since he met her; however, it was awkward to be with her because whenever he was around her, even for a small period of time, he would remember that she killed his brother. Ryan knew the situation, and had forgiven Marissa awhile ago, but he could never forget what had happened that fateful night. She was the only girl Ryan had ever loved. While Theresa was his best friend, that was all she really ever was, in retrospect. Ryan never loved her, at least not the way he loved Marissa.

For Seth, things had not changed drastically since his mother had gone to the treatment center. He was still dating Summer, and neither of them had a direct connection to Trey's death. However, Seth was still dealing with the death of his grandfather, and his mother's absence, in his own ways. Sometimes, he would have dreams about his grandfather, and he would still be alive; however, in each dream, he aged and became closer to the age of death. Sort of chronological dreams, in a sense. Every now and again, he would dream about his mother too. They were dreams about her when Seth was young, when they were living in Berkeley. This would make him think about his mother, about what had gone wrong. About what he might have done to make her start drinking.

For Summer, life had changed hardly at all, other than she had a difficult time communicating with Marissa. Although she was Marissa's best friend, since the whole thing with Trey, it had become increasingly difficult to talk to her about almost anything. Most of the time, she looked as if she were off in a distant place, far away from reality. Summer was not the only person to experience this, so did her parents, especially her father. Most of the time, now a days, Summer would hang out with Seth - making out or making love.


	30. The Deal

It was seven-thirty in the morning that Monday. Sandy walked into his beach side office that day with a sense of relief. This was the first time since he had taken Marissa's case that he felt all right with life. He did not have an overload of work waiting for him, since he had taken some of it home with him over the weekend. "Like homework," Seth pointed out. He felt like Kirsten was doing well, and that he was doing an all right job holding the family together, even in her absence.

He put his briefcase down on his desk and sighed. He put the files back in their perspective cabinets, which he had taken home for the weekend, and straightened things out. Then, there was a knock on the door. Sandy looked at his watch. He thought it was strange for someone to be coming to the office so early in the morning. Sandy went over and answered it. It turned out to be the district attorney.

"Hi," Sandy said.

"Hi, Mr. Cohen, can we speak for a second?" Chris Caldwell asked. He appeared as if he were dressed to be heading into the office, as well. He motioned to come in and talk to Sandy. Sandy stepped aside, and let Mr. Caldwell into his humble abode of an office.

"What did you want to speak about?" Sandy asked. He sat down in his chair, at his desk. The district attorney sat across from him, in one of the chairs one of his clients might use.

"I want to speak off the record, about this case - with Trey Atwood, and Marissa Cooper," He explained.

Sandy looked at him for a second. He seemed intrigued as to what this man wanted to speak about privately. He asked, "All right, then, what did you want to say?"

"Marissa Cooperis beingcharged with manslaughter, as we all know," Mr. Caldwell began to explain. Sandy nodded his head at this. "She... doesn't have a good chance of staying out of prison, you must know that?"

Sandy again nodded his head. He did not yet see what the point was of this man's visit to his office.

"She seems to be a good kid, Mr. Cohen. With a good, strong family - " He said.

"Well, I don't know about that, but yeah, she's a good kid. I lived next door to her family for most of her life, and I never knew her to do anything... really illegal," Sandy told him. He failed to remember the times she had shoplifted, overdosed on drugs, been drunk, or smoked cigarettes. All of which were illegal, of course.

"I want her to stay out of prison. She doesn't belong there. I talked with your son, Seth, yesterday and Summer Roberts, the day before that. They both told me that she shot Trey to protect Ryan. Ryan Atwood and Marissa Cooper said the same thing. If I can find the right judge to try the case, will you let me?" The district attorney asked.

Sandy knew what he was trying to do, and he could not be more grateful, on Marissa's behalf. Even though he knew it was wrong, he did not want Marissa to go to prison. He agreed with Mr. Caldwell - she did not belong there. "Thank you. But if I may ask, what do I have to do for you? I mean, since you are doing this for my client?" Sandy asked.

He smiled at Sandy. Mr. Caldwell was green. He was somewhat fresh out of college. "Nothing. Let's just say, you owe me?" He told Sandy.

Sandy looked at him for a moment. He was skeptical to take the deal, but he knew that this would mean that Marissa would have a good chance of staying out of prison. "All right, but _only_ if Marissa Cooper isn't prosecuted," Sandy replied, rather sternly. He did not want this to backfire; however, it appeared as if he did not have a choice. Not if he wanted Marissa to stay out of prison.

"You have my word," the district attorney replied. They shook hands, exchanged their goodbyes, and the district attorney went off to his office, while Sandy went to work in his.

Author's Note  
I don't have a clue about legal stuff, so I'm just trying my best with this. I don't want Marissa to go to jail, and I don't want Ryan to go either, but I don't know how to get them out of it any other way. If anyone knows anything about this type of thing, let me know.


	31. The Dean

Sandy looked at his watch in the traffic. It read 10:15 A.M. He was beginning to get worried that he might not make it on time. His hands were beginning to get clammy, as they did when he was nervous. He was almost late for his meeting with the Dean of Discipline and Dr. Kim. The two school officials had called Sandy yesterday, and told him that they wanted to meet with him to discuss Ryan's future at Harbor. Reluctantly, Sandy agreed to meet with them. He knew that there was no way that he could not meet with them.

At 10:30, Sandy walked into the school right on time. Although he was on time, he wished that he could have been early. As a wise music director once told him, back when he was in junior high school, in the Bronx, "Being early is being on time." He got to the Dean's office, and decided to sit down until someone called him in. He felt better now that he was at the office, and he was not late. Dr. Kim terrified Sandy, to an extent. She reminded him of Julie Cooper, in a way. That is when he saw her - Julie Cooper, that is. Julie looked at Sandy with as much surprise and he looked at her with. They both knew they were at the school for the same reason.

"You're here because the Dean and Dr. Kim called, right? Because they want to kick Ryan out of the school?" Julie asked, breaking the ice between them.

Sandy moved closer to Julie, so that they would not have to talk as loudly. They themselves did not want to start a rumor around the school that their own children were being kicked out. They had both just come from the office. Since Kirsten had been gone, Julie had been doing more work than she used to. Sometimes she would have to go in on the weekends, and other times she would have to stay late at the office in order to make sure everything got done. Not only did she have to do her job, but she had to do Kirsten's too. This impressed Sandy. A year ago, he felt that she was a shallow housewife who knew nothing about the working world, when in fact, it turned out that she was a very business savvy person.

"And you're here because they called you. Because they want to kick Marissa out of Harbor, right?" Sandy asked her, sort of rhetorically. Julie nodded at Sandy in a shamed way.

"I guess now... she 'isn't Harbor School material'," Julie told Sandy. She sighed.

"I'm figurin' they're thinking the same thing about Ryan," Sandy said, corroborating what Julie said.

It was then that Dr. Kim and the Dean came out of the office. Julie and Sandy stood up. The Dean and Dr. Kim greeted them, and ushered them into the office, where they could speak in private.

"Thank you both for being able to meet with us. I know that you both work, so we appreciate your flexibility," Dr. Kim started.

"Anytime, after all this is about our children, right?" Sandy replied. He sat down in the chair, and so did Julie. They were next to each other in the office.

"Absolutely," Julie told them, echoing what Sandy stated.

"We wanted to speak to you both about your children, Ryan Atwood and Marissa Cooper. We all know about what has happened in recent months. Everyone knows that Marissa shot and killed Trey Atwood, and she knows that they know it, as well. It is painfully obvious. We also understand about the relationship between Ryan and Marissa - their history, and we feel that with Marissa being at The Harbor School, she might... infringe on the education that Ryan and the other children here are receiving," the Dean of Discipline explained to Sandy and Julie.

"What?" Julie asked. She wanted to make sure she understood what she was hearing. "Are you saying that Marissa needs to leave Harbor?"

"Are you sure that is the right thing to do?" Sandy asked of the Dean and Dr. Kim. "I mean, her whole life is here."

"Exactly, and we have put an exorbitant amount of money into this educational institution," Julie told them. "Why should Marissa have to change schools now? It is her senior year!"

"We feel it would be in the interest of the other students, as well as the parents of those students if Marissa were to leave The Harbor School," the Dean of Discipline explained to Julie.

"Marissa has no other criminal background. She's never done anything to anyone here. She's a leader at this school," Sandy tried to explain to the Dean and Dr. Kim.

"As we said before, we feel it would be in the best interest of the other students, and their parents if Marissa discontinued her education here," Dr. Kim said, repeating what her colleague said before. She was firm about it. Clearly the decision had already been made.

"You're just afraid about the reaction from the community and other parents if you were to keep Marissa at the school!" Julie exclaimed. She was filled with rage.

"Honestly, yes, that is one of our concerns," Dr. Kim said, admitting it. She folded her hands on her desk.

"What about Ryan? If I'm not mistaken, I believe that is why I was called to this meeting?" Sandy asked Dr. Kim.

"We wanted to let you know that Ryan is going to be watched by myself and Dr. Kim. We know that he has been involved with some of the 'disagreements' here on campus before. We also know he was involved with what happened to Trey Atwood somehow," the dean told Sandy.

"Why not kick Ryan out, like you're kicking my daughter out!" Julie yelled at the administrative pair. They sat across from Julie and Sandy, showing no emotion.

"We considered that, but we felt that since Ryan has done so well since his transfer to Harbor; and the fact that he did not shoot Trey Atwood meant that it did not warrant his expulsion from this educational institution," the Dean of Discipline explained to Julie. "For Ryan, we are going to monitor him. He will have a meeting every day with Dr. Kim and me to evaluate him and discuss things."

"We will be talking to Ryan and Marissa later in the day about what we have just spoken to both of you about. We just wanted to make sure you knew before we told them of the school's decision. We thank you for your time and cooperation in the matter," Dr. Kim told Sandy and Julie. She shook hands with both parents, as did the Dean of Discipline. Sandy and Julie got up and left the room together, enraged. When they got outside of the office, they both stood there for a moment, not knowing what to think about what just happened inside the office.

Then, finally, Sandy spoke. He said, "I want you to know, that I will do everything in my power to get Marissa back into that school."

Julie looked up at Sandy and replied, "Thanks, but I'm not sure if any of it matters anymore. I'll talk to Marissa about it when she comes home today." She walked off towards her car, so that she could go back to the office. Sandy did the same.


	32. Goodbye Harbor

Summer, Seth, Ryan and Marissa had begun to eat lunch together everyday. They would sit at their own little table in the back of the patio, so that they would not be disturbed. Marissa usually got a salad, seeing as how she was a vegetarian. She would get that with an orange juice, and a bag of potato chips. This was a typical lunch for her. Ryan would usually get something from the grill. A hamburger or something like that. He would get milk with it, but no side. Seth throughly enjoyed the school's tuna melts. Summer liked hamburgers, like Ryan. Usually she would get something like that, an orange juice, and a bag of potato chips.

"So do you guys want to do anything with me and Seth after school?" Summer asked Ryan and Marissa. They looked at each other. In recent days, they had begun to hang out a little, and really enjoyed it. Ryan knew that he really wanted Marissa to be more than just his friend.

"Um... I guess. What do you guys want to do?" Marissa asked. She looked at Ryan.

"We can all hang out at the house," Ryan suggested. They all nodded their heads agreeing. Seth and Summer finished their lunches.

"Hey, Seth, wanna go get dessert?" Summer asked.

"Sure," Seth replied. They picked up their trays and brought them back into the cafeteria to dump, and get dessert, which today happened to be vanilla ice cream. Ryan decided he would take this opportunity to talk to Marissa - alone.

"Hey, so I was thinking," Ryan started to say.

"Thinking about what?" Marissa asked. She pushed her salad around with her fork.

"I was wondering, if maybe, you would want to get back together. To be my girlfriend again?" Ryan asked Marissa. He smiled at her.

She smiled back and said, "I'd love to be your girlfriend again." She kissed him, just as Seth and Summer walked back to the table with their ice creams.

"Well I see you two have made up," Seth said with a grin. Summer and he sat down across from them with their ice creams.

"So now I guess we can do couply stuff together," Summer told them, as she took a big bite of the ice cream.

They smiled at her, just as someone walked over to the table to deliver a message to Ryan and Marissa. The note was from the office, and it told them to go to the Dean of Discipline's office after lunch. It did not say what it was about, but this worried Marissa - and Ryan.

Summer, Seth, Ryan and Marissa had begun to eat lunch together everyday. They would sit at their own little table in the back of the patio, so that they would not be disturbed. Marissa usually got a salad, seeing as how she was a vegetarian. She would get that with an orange juice, and a bag of potato chips. This was a typical lunch for her. Ryan would usually get something from the grill. A hamburger or something like that. He would get milk with it, but no side. Seth throughly enjoyed the school's tuna melts. Summer liked hamburgers, like Ryan. Usually she would get something like that, an orange juice, and a bag of potato chips.

"So do you guys want to do anything with me and Seth after school?" Summer asked Ryan and Marissa. They looked at each other. In recent days, they had begun to hang out a little, and really enjoyed it. Ryan knew that he really wanted Marissa to be more than just his friend.

"Um... I guess. What do you guys want to do?" Marissa asked. She looked at Ryan.

"We can all hang out at the house," Ryan suggested. They all nodded their heads agreeing. Seth and Summer finished their lunches.

"Hey, Seth, wanna go get dessert?" Summer asked.

"Sure," Seth replied. They picked up their trays and brought them back into the cafeteria to dump, and get dessert, which today happened to be vanilla ice cream. Ryan decided he would take this opportunity to talk to Marissa - alone.

"Hey, so I was thinking," Ryan started to say.

"Thinking about what?" Marissa asked. She pushed her salad around with her fork.

"I was wondering, if maybe, you would want to get back together. To be my girlfriend again?" Ryan asked Marissa. He smiled at her.

She smiled back and said, "I'd love to be your girlfriend again." She kissed him, just as Seth and Summer walked back to the table with their ice creams.

"Well I see you two have made up," Seth said with a grin. Summer and he sat down across from them with their ice creams.

"So now I guess we can do couply stuff together," Summer told them, as she took a big bite of the ice cream.

They smiled at her, just as someone walked over to the table to deliver a message to Ryan and Marissa. The note was from the office, and it told them to go to the Dean of Discipline's office after lunch. It did not say what it was about, but this worried Marissa - and Ryan.

"I wonder what this is for?" Marissa asked Ryan.

"I don't know. I haven't beaten anyone up lately," Ryan replied. He took the last bite of his hamburger, chewed and swallowed it. "When does it say to be there?"

"As soon as possible, I guess," Marissa told him. She had finished her salad. "Should we go?"

Ryan nodded his head and said, "Let's dump and go."

He and Marissa got up from the table, said good-bye to Seth and Summer, and went over to dump their trays at the trash can. Once they had dumped they walked across the school campus to where the Dean of Discipline's office was. His office was right near Dr. Kim's. They waited outside until one of them called them in.

"Well, this is a weird way to start dating, huh? We get called down here, together. A fairytale start to a fairytale romance!" Marissa said, sarcastically. Ryan smiled at her.

"I want to make this work. To make us work, no matter what. I know... that I'm not always the easiest person to be with, and I know that this isn't going to be easy. It never was easy, but I love you. I always have. Sometimes I just need a little help remembering that," Ryan told her.

"I know you love me. I love you too," Marissa replied. Just then, the Dean and Dr. Kim came out of the office. They asked for Ryan and Marissa to go inside, and have a seat, which they did.

"We want to talk to you both about your... futures at this educational institution," Dr. Kim stated. She sat down next to the Dean and across from Ryan and Marissa.

"What about our futures here at Harbor?" Marissa asked, very pointedly. Marissa looked very worried, but she tried to hold her stern composure.

"We all know about what has happened this past summer to your families. The death of your step-father, Marissa. We know that someone close to both of you is in rehabilitation, Kirsten Cohen was your step-sister, Marissa, and your guardian, Ryan. We also know about the incident involving both of you and Trey Atwood," the Dean of Discipline told them.

"So what does that have to do with anything?" Ryan asked

"The school has talked about it, and we feel it best, for you, Ryan, if you were to meet with myself and Dr. Kim every day until we decide you don't need to anymore. This is so you have someone to talk to, and so we can evaluate you - to decide if you should still attend this educational institution," the dean told Ryan. Then he focused on Marissa, and said "Miss Cooper, we know that your family has invested a lot into this school, and not just financially. However, it was the school's decision that as of Monday, you will no longer be able to attend The Harbor School."

"What? But I've already started my senior year here!" Marissa exclaimed. She could not understand why this was happening to her, and now.

"Marissa, the school felt that since you shot someone, it was not appropriate for you to continue your education here. Other students and parents have complained," Dr. Kim tried to explain.

"Do my parents or my lawyer know about this?" Marissa asked. Her eyes were burning with hate.

"Yes we spoke with Mr. Cohen, and your mother this morning," the Dean told her. She stood up from her seat and walked out the door. She was enraged. Marissa could not believe that the school was kicking her out. Neither could Ryan, in fact, they both thought that he would be the one kicked out of Harbor. Ryan followed Marissa out of the room. She was just standing outside, not knowing what to do.

"I'm really sorry. If there is anything I can do - " Ryan told her.

"Thanks, but I think I'm just going to finish out the day, and then go home and talk about this with my dad," Marissa told him. She shrugged. Marissa felt very los. Her whole life was at Harbor, and now she was being forced to leave it. "I don't know what to do now."

"Okay, but if you do want to hang out, or want someone else to talk to, I'll be at home," Ryan replied. He hugged Marissa and walked her to her next class of the day. Right then he wished that he could be in her shoes, so she would not have to transfer, and so that he could really understand what she was truly going through; however, he knew that would never happen.


	33. Together Forever

Marissa had, in fact, gone home early from school. She decided to duck out of the last period of the day, considering it was only wind ensemble, and talk her parents about what the school had told her. When she got home, she found her mother and father sitting at the kitchen table talking. They stopped when she came in, and asked her to come grab a chair, so they could talk about what had happened that day, and what to do next.

Meanwhile, at school, Ryan got a ride home with Summer that day because she was coming over to their house, and Marissahad just gone home. Seth sat up front with Summer, of course. Ryan sat in the back. It was about a ten minute drive from the school to Seth and Ryan's house. When Seth, Summer, and Ryan got to the house, they went inside, got drinks from the refrigerator, and were going to sit down in the family room to play some Playstation. While Summer really did not like video games, she did not object this time. However, to their surprise, Sandy was home. He was sitting in the family room, talking with Julie Cooper.

"Hey, Dad, guess what? Ryan and Marissa no longer just friends. They are officially a couple, again. And why are you home?" Seth asked. He sat down next to his father on the couch with his root beer.

"Hey, that's great! But Seth, Summer - you'd better sit down. Ryan, I think you already know about this," Sandy told them. Ryan nodded his head. Seth and Summer appeared to be puzzled.

"What does he know?" Seth asked. He looked back and forth between his father and Julie Cooper.

"Today the Dean of Discipline and Dr. Kim met with Julie and myself, and then later met with Ryan and Marissa. They had been investigating the violence surrounding students at The Harbor School, when they came upon the four of you," Sandy started to explain.

"The four of us? Then why wasn't Summer's dad called, or why weren't Summer and I brought in?" Seth asked. He could talk for everyone in the room, it seemed, most of the time.

"Because most of the violence among the four of you was concentrated between Ryan and Marissa. They investigated, and she talked to us. Told me that Ryan would be put on a sort of probation, through the school, where he would meet with Dr. Kim and the Dean every day. He told Julie, and myself that Marissa... she would no longer be able to attend The Harbor School as of Monday," Sandy continued. The kids looked at him in shook. Julie shared their pain.

"What! How can they kick her out?" Summer asked angrily. Seth was paralyzed, unable to speak.

"I don't know, Summer, I honestly don't know. That decision was made by the school officials, not myself," Sandy told her.

Finally, Seth asked, "So what will happen to her?"

"Well, that's what Julie and I were discussing. She and Jimmy still have to talk about it, but right now, it looks like Marissa will have to attend Newport Union High School, as of Monday," Sandy told them.

"Oh, my God," Summer said quietly. She could not believe this. After they had all just gotten past a rough time, Seth, Summer, Ryan, and Marissa were now being broken up. Her best friend would not go to the same school as her anymore, nor would they have the same circle of friends. The link between them would be Seth and Ryan

Seth turned to Ryan and asked, "Dude, why didn't you say anything?"

Ryan looked at him for a moment. They all knew he was not much of a talker; however, this was big - life altering for them. He replied, "It wasn't my place, man."

"How did Marissa take the news when they told her?" Julie asked Ryan.

He looked at her. This was one of the first times he had looked at her, and not felt afraid that she was going to kill him. He told her, "Okay, I guess. I mean, she was mad, but not overly."

It was then that the doorbell rang. Sandy excused himself from the group, and went over to answer it. The person at the door was Marissa. She had changed into more casual dress attire. She asked if Ryan was home. Sandy told her that he was home. He ushered Marissa into the family room where she found Ryan, Seth, Summer, and her mom sitting.

"Hey," Marissa said.

"Hi, Sweetie," her mother greeted her. "Well, I should be going. See you later, Sandy. See you at home, Marissa." Ryan walked over to Marissa and kissed her.

"Coop, why didn't you say anything?" Summer asked. She wanted to know why Marissa did not tell her first.

"I don't know. It all seemed so... sudden," she told Summer.

"Well, look," Ryan said, "Marissa's here now, so do you guys want to do something?"

"Sure," Seth replied. He looked at Summer.

"Okay. Wanna go down to the pier or something?" Summer suggested.

"All right," Marissa replied. Ryan nodded, and Sethtold her yeswith his "Seth" look.

Ryan, Marissa, Seth, and Summer got up, walked out of the living room, and headed out the door. They got into Summer'sBMW convertible. Seth and her were in front, and Ryan and Marissa were in the back. They drove the five minutes down to the pier, got out of the car, and started to walked around. They walked in a row - Seth, Summer, Marissa, and Ryan.

Marissa sighed and said, "Why does everything have to be this complicated. I mean, why does this have to happen now? I feel like my life is falling apart."

"Coop, I'm sorry, and no matter what, we'll get you through it," Summer told her. Ryan hugged her and Seth hugged Summer.

"Hey, what do you say we go and get some Balboa Bars?" Ryan asked them.

"Sure," Marissa replied with a smile. It was then thatshe felt that with her friends, she could get through this.


	34. Everything Old is New Again

On the previous Friday, Julie, Jimmy, and Marissa had gone to Newport Union to register her as a student in the public school system. She got her new school I.D., which had her photograph on it with her name, code, and other identifying information. They also filled out some paper work, and tried to register her for classes. Everyone seemed very nice and accommodating. They gave her a tour, and showed her where everything was. There was no lounge or cell phone use, but it was a school. The administration explained to her that it was not an open campus, unlike Harbor, therefore, she had to stay on school grounds all day, unless she had been dismissed by a parent or guardian. Clearly, things were going to be different this year.

That Monday, Marissa got out of her car and looked around the campus. She sighed and decided to make the best of it, for this would be where she would be finishing out her senior year - at Newport Union High School. The campus looked a lot different from what she was used to at The Harbor School. It looked more like a typical high school than a college campus. It was a large brick building with a rather aesthetically pleasing courtyard. It had three floors and a basement. There were more students; however, the campus appeared to be smaller.

She walked into the building and into the guidance office. Marissa had not been assigned to a homeroom yet, nor had she gotten her schedule. Since she was transferring in from a rigorous college preparatory school, it was difficult for the Guidance Department and Marissa to find classes that would suit her. She sat down in one of the chairs and looked around her, out into the halls. Marissa saw all the other students walking past her. They looked different from the type of students that were found at The Harbor School. While Harbor had some cliques, clearly not as many as this school. There were gothic students, preps, jocks, sluts, druggies, nerds, burn outs, and all of them were different ethnicities, as well. She had never seen so many Asian, Hispanic, and Black students together in her life. It was not that she was racist, or anything of the sort, it was simply that she had not been exposed to it before. These were the children of the people that cleaned their million-dollar homes.

Marissa sat there until the receptionist told her to go down and meet with her new guidance counselor. They were done alphabetically at this school. Finally, about ten minutes before the bell for homeroom rang, the secretary called Marissa's name, and told her to go meet with Mrs. Barnes, down at the end of the hall. She walked down the hall very timidly, afraid she would walk into the wrong office, or something of the sort. However, she did find her way.

"Hi, there. Marissa Cooper? Please, take a seat," she said, greeting Marissa kindly. She was an older lady, and wore glasses; however, she seemed nice, and that was all Marissa cared about, at this point. Marissa sat down, as she asked.

"Do you have a copy of my schedule?" Marissa asked, afraid. At Harbor, she had been in AP English IV, AP French, AP Psychology, AP Physics, AP Calculus, and Wind Ensemble. However, on Friday, when she came to the school, it appeared that it did not have the selection that Harbor had to choose from.

"Yes, I do, as a matter of fact. Nice GPA, by the way. You have excellent test scores too. I must say, it was quite hard to place you because of your scholastic abilities," Mrs. Barnes told her. She handed Marissa the copy of the schedule. She looked at it. Marissa was not pleased, at all. So far, she was signed up for Honors English IV, French III, Social Psychology (which was a half year class), Senior History (which was another half year class), Honors Pre- Calculus, Honors Biology, Chorus, and Theater.

"Um... Mrs. Barnes, I think there have been some mistakes," Marissa told her. She showed her the schedule, and her copy of the one she had received at Harbor.

"What mistakes, Dear?" the old woman asked.

"Well, I've already taken French III - sophomore year. I took AP Pre-Calculus last year, and I took an AP Biology sophomore year. I can't sing, so I don't know why I'm signed up for chorus because I play flute and piccolo, and I don't know the first thing about acting. What about the psychology class? Is that the only one you offer?" Marissa asked her.

"Oh sorry, Marissa, but with you being a transfer student, there isn't a lot left that you can choose from. Let's see here," she said to Marissa. She turned to her computer. "I can put you in Latin I, instead of French III, and I can put you into Intro to Statistics, instead of Pre-Calculus. How about Anatomy and Physiology or a C.P. Physics class instead of AP Biology?"

"C.P. Physics, I think," Marissa told her. "Latin and Stats sound fine."

"Marissa we don't offer any sort of a concert band around here, but what about Social Psychology, Senior History, and AP Art?" she asked her. Marissa nodded her head.

"Yeah, sure, that sounds fine," she replied. She sighed. Although it was not what she wanted, it was what she was going to have to deal with. "I think that will work."

"All right, and here are your homeroom and locker assignments. I will show you where your locker and homeroom are, okay?" she told her. She got up out of her seat, and Marissa followed her. She walked down the corridor on the ground level, and found her locker - P-53.

"This is your locker. Always keep it locked, and never put your stuff on the ground, otherwise you might not get it back," she told Marissa. She was slightly mortified by this and nodded her head. The guidance counselor nodded in agreement, and continued on to Marissa's homeroom. She stopped at room 221.

"This is your homeroom. The teacher's name is Mr. Baker. I'll bring you inside," she told Marissa. Mrs. Barnes knocked on the door, and went in.

"Why, hi there, Mrs. Barnes, and what brings you here today?" he asked. He was tall and younger than she was, although he was in no means a "new" teacher.

"I have a new student for you. Her name is Marissa Cooper, and she just transferred here," the guidance counselor explained. Marissa shyly stepped inside.

"Well, thanks for telling me. Hello, Marissa. Can I see your schedule?" he asked. She handed it to him.

"Hm... smart young lady. Casey, why don't you show Marissa around today. It appears that you two have some of the same classes," he told her. Mr. Baker gave Marissa back her schedule, and directed her to sit over near where Casey was. She was sitting over on the other side of the room - the less populated side. She was small with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Hey, I'm Casey, as he already mentioned," she said to Marissa.

"I'm Marissa," Marissa replied. She sat down next to the girl.

"Geez... you're tall," she said. "So where did you transfer from?"

Marissa sighed. She knew she would have to tell about herself sometime. Might as well be then, she thought. Marissa told her, "The Harbor School."

"Whoa, Harbor?" Casey asked. "You must be smart then."

Marissa shrugged and said, "I guess. I don't know."

"So got a boyfriend?" Casey questioned.

Marissa grinned, "Actually, I do. His name is Ryan. He goes to Harbor. He transferred in there from Chino a couple of years ago." Marissa said that to make herself seem less stuck up.

"Cool, but how did a kid from Chino end up there?" Casey wondered.

"He's a long story, but he's really fun and great," Marissa told her.

"Yeah, we should all hang out sometime. I have a boyfriend too. His name is Jack. He goes here. He'll be in your English class," she explained to Marissa.

"Cool," Marissa smiled. Then the bell rang. Although this year was going to be different, maybe it would not be as hard as she thought.


	35. Such Sweet Sorrow

Three days later, Sandy had gotten a phone call from Kirsten early in the morning. He had just gotten out of bed when she called. She told him that she had been released from the treatment facility, and that he should come up to visit her where she was. Naturally, he agreed. An hour later, he was dressed and ready to head out the door to where Kirsten was. She had given him directions, and told him that would take about a half an hour to reach the house where she was. It was not in Newport Beach.

Sandy drove as fast as he could, without risking getting pulled over to see Kirsten and how she was doing, in person. He was so anxious. His palms were sweaty, even with the air conditioning on. It took him a little less than a half hour to reach where Kirsten was because of his driving; however, when he got there, he was more nervous than when he had been in the car. It had been nearly four months since Sandy had seen his wife.

Kirsten was nervous, as well. However, she was nervous because today she was going to tell Sandy that she was not going to come home with him. She knew that he would not like it, but he would deal with it because he loved her. She heard his car coming up the drive way, and walked out to the door way to meet him. He walked up the front steps.

"Hey, Sandy," she greeted him. Kirsten leaned over and hugged her husband.

"Where's your stuff? I told Seth and Ryan that I would have you back by the end of the school day," Sandy told her. She smiled at him, for she knew that this would not be easy.

"Wanna come inside first? Have something to drink?" Kirsten asked him.

"Sure, I'd love to come in," Sandy replied. He followed Kirsten inside the house, which was not that dissimilar from theirs. He sat down in the kitchen, where she was getting the drinks from. "So who's house is this?"

"A woman that I met at the place, Charlotte. This is her house. We left the place last night, and I decided that instead of bothering you at home, I would stay the night here," Kirsten explained to her husband. She lied to him, though. Kirsten had been out of rehabilitation for weeks

"Oh, well, I would have loved to come pick you up," Sandy told her.

"It's fine, really. I didn't want to bother you or the boys," Kirsten said.

"So how are you, really?" Sandy asked.

"I'm good. I feel good," Kirsten told him. "How are you and the kids?"

"You look good too. We're fine. Ryan and Marissa are back together. Although guess who got kicked out of Harbor?" Sandy replied.

"Ryan? Oh, no, I was afraid of this," Kirsten said.

"Even better - Marissa Cooper," Sandy told her. Kirsten looked at him in shock.

"Oh, my, what happened?" Kirsten asked.

"The Dean kicked her out because of her involvement with Trey's death," Sandy explained. "She goes to Newport Union as of last Monday."

"Well, is she okay?" Kirsten wondered. She knew that Marissa was very emotionally fragile.

"I think so, at least now that she and Ryan are back together, that helps," Sandy told her. He drank the last of his water. "So when do you want to leave?"

She sighed. She knew she would have to tell him, but she did not think it would be this hard. Kirsten replied, " Sandy, I'm not going home with you."

"What? What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I'm not going with you. I'm going to stay here for awhile, with Charlotte. I like it here, and I just want some time... away," Kirsten told Sandy.

"But you were just away for four months!" Sandy exclaimed.

"I know, but what I mean is away, and on my own, for a bit," Kirsten told him.

"Honey, are you all right?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah, Sandy, I am. For the first time, in awhile, I feel free," she told him. "And I want to do this, for me. I'm not saying that I'm leaving you, or anything, I just need some space for me."

Sandy thought about trying to talk her out of it, but then he remembered Seth last summer, when he ran away to Portland. It was then that he knew that it was not the way to handle it. Sandy knew that she needed to take the time to figure out that Newport was her home, where Seth, Ryan and he were. He could not do anything to sway her, only she could change her mind. He told her, "All right, Honey. Take all the time you need," He kissed her, and told her that he loved her, and to call him whenever she wanted to talk with him, or wanted to come home.

Sandy let himself out of the house, got into his car, and drove home. He could not make her do something that she did not want. He knew that their lives would never be the same - none of theirs - Ryan's, Seth's, Marissa's, Summer's, Kirsten's... everyone's. This year was going to be different. He felt, somehow as if everything was falling apart. Everyone's lives were changing, for better or for worse.

Authors Note

To clarify something on the previous chapter - I did not try and make Marissa into the brainiac; however, I knew that since she was going to be attending public school, they would consider her brighter than most of the other students who where there. At least considering Harbor is a private, competitive, college prep school.

I know that this is not the ending that most people would like, but the next story I shall write will dove tail off of this. It will be a few months in the future, and have a happier ending. I just felt as if this were a good place to end things, for now.

I would also like to thank anyone who read the story. This is the first fanfiction I've posted, and I appriciate the support.


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